《Deviant's Masquerade: Hacking Reality (A teenage Mad Scientist's story.)》


 Prologue (Pt. 1)

    Prologue Pt.1


    --- Maya ---


    Her eyes darted around the room she was in, taking inventory of everything in range of her, and of every way she could use it to her aid in her escape.


    (Let¡¯s see¡­ Locked door. Bucket. Plastic bowl full of¡­ gruel(?) And a water bottle¡­)


    Of course, being an M.A.D. her captors had stripped the room bare of the non-essentials necessary to keep her alive.


    They¡¯d kidnapped her early that morning when she¡¯d been making her way to her testing grounds, to test out her latest invention. She hadn¡¯t even known what hit her when they did, just that she¡¯d been knocked unconscious and when she¡¯d come to she¡¯d found herself in this room, locked far away from any means of assistance.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± She kicked the room¡¯s door, as she paced in frustration. ¡°I¡¯ve been here for hours already!¡± (I need to get home¡­)


    Part of her was worried, because by now her family had realized she was missing and were planning on doing something foolish in an attempt to save her or to get the hero¡¯s guild to intervene. Both of which would make the people who kidnapped her react poorly.


    (That¡¯s if they even noticed¡­)


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t afford to wait for my family to save me!¡± She shouted, slapping her cheeks to make sure she was focused on this moment. ¡°After all I¡¯m an M.A.D., I¡¯m not helpless!¡±


    True it was one of the more common Deviancies, but the super intelligence of a mad scientist was nothing to scoff at either. (The only reason no one believed me is because of my weird specialty!)


    All M.A.D.s had a ¡®specialty¡¯ of sorts, not something as specific as a field of study so much as a blanket category of science. Such as machines, biology, and (whatever the fuck) let people bring the dead back to life.


    Unfortunately, her specialty was a little more esoteric than the powers made renowned by heroes and villains alike. Instead of the typical three, because by some means she¡¯d gotten a fourth category revolving around math, physics, and writing.


    At first she¡¯d thought it odd that her specialty had involved ¡®coding¡¯ of all things, when other M.A.D.s focused on more physical things such as mechanical monstrosities, biological biohazards, or demented dead things in the case of the creepier M.A.D.s.


    But eventually she¡¯d realized her own brilliance!


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    From what little she¡¯d managed to gather on her strain of M.A.D.,  they were rare polymaths whose instinctive understanding of math was on a level that they were able to actually crack the formula behind practitioner-type magic. Or in more straightforward terms, they could actually hack reality through math and science.


    That wasn¡¯t to say she¡¯d actually gotten that far yet¡­ (But I¡¯ve got the proof of concept! So, ha-ha!)


    Still, regardless of if she could actually make reality her bitch, (yet.) The fact that she might be able to do it one day was of course considered a very valuable commodity by those aware of it. Enough so for whatever organization that had kidnapped her to, well, kidnap her. (Which¡¯ll be the biggest mistake of their fucking lives!)


    Her eyes darted around the room as she ran a hand through her hair, her anger fighting against her fear as she tried to keep her composure. Tried to think of a way out, and not about the fact that this was all probably her fault in some way¡­


    (I should¡¯ve known not to search for the ¡®fourth-type of M.A.D.¡¯¡­)


    She was mostly convinced those searches had somehow flagged her in a way that the local gang was able to detect. After all, there weren¡¯t too many reasons to kidnap her besides her being an M.A.D. and given how common that deviancy was it was usually easier for a gang to just hire one with looser morals.


    On a side note she¡¯d actually been considering finding one such morally ambiguous organization to work for and fund her research. At least until her abduction at which point she decided (fuck these assholes) and promptly began planning their imminent demise.


    Letting her anger flare once more to push back the despair, she took another look around the room to make absolutely sure that no one was secretly spying on her.


    (Looks like it¡¯s safe¡­)


    Nodding to herself, she pulled out the sole invention she¡¯d managed to build in the months since realizing she was an M.A.D. before flicking a few of the switches lining its sides.


    To most people the device she¡¯d managed to hide on her person would look like a Frankenstein-style phone, with a few random bits and pieces sticking out of it. What it actually was, was her Computational Operating Mega Processor, or COMP for short.


    (She was willing to admit she may¡¯ve put a little too much effort into giving her first piece of Spark-Tech an acronym.)


    On its own, the COMP was meant as a sort of conduit to run her various reality hacking programs, or it would once she worked out a few bugs, the memory issues, and upgraded the battery capacity, as well as a few other things she¡¯d have to work on¡­


    ¡°I already said none of that matters!¡± She yelled at the little voice in her head narrating everything. ¡°I knew M.A.D.s were supposed to be crazy, but I didn¡¯t realize it¡¯d be the annoying kind of crazy¡­¡± She grumbled like a petulant child. ¡°Hey!¡±


    But redirecting the focus from her own madness and towards the device in her hand, she recalled the upgrade she¡¯d managed to implement to her COMP mere days before her abduction. The upgrade responsible for her impending ingenious escape, an AI capable of hacking nearby electronics, something beyond the paltry AI of the common man!


    She couldn¡¯t help but laugh at her own brilliant genius!

 Prologue (Pt. 2)

    Prologue (Pt. 2)


    --- Maya ---


    While her AI wasn¡¯t necessarily the smartest one around, -something she completely understood, since true genius took time, trial, and (the termination of one¡¯s enemies)- it was still fairly advanced by the average standards of the world.


    As such one of the first things she sent it to do was to map out all of the nearby cellphones. (You have to love the fact everyone carries an wi-fi connective device in their pockets.)


    Just on its own, this told her the number of people watching her, their general locations, and a backdoor into their phones all at the price of¡­ (Two units of power.)


    Not the worst use of power all things considered.


    From there she had the AI go through each phone¡¯s text history -including the ones everyone thinks they¡¯ve deleted- before searching for messages with key words such as ¡®kidnap the girl,¡¯ ¡®go to location X¡¯ and other such typical minion orders. She then had the sender of those messages sent to her phone so that she could cross reference them to try and figure out the number of this little gang sect¡¯s leader.


    (And¡­ got it for, three power¡­) She couldn¡¯t help but grimace at the fifty-percent marker on her phone¡¯s battery. (Going to be cutting this close¡­)


    (You¡¯re going to fail~)


    She shook her head clear of those doubts, as she continued managing her AI¡¯s activities through her COMP. ¡°Just stay focused, you can do this.¡±


    As she finally figured out which of the numerous phone numbers (probably) belonged to the gang¡¯s leader, she reached the part of the plan that could (and would) bite her in the ass if her understanding of the situation was wrong. (Like usual¡­)


    ¡°NO!¡± She shook her head more forcibly this time, her long hair flying all over the place as she did so. ¡°I¡¯m not wrong!¡±


    Pushing past the little voice telling her she was wrong, she had her AI pretend to be the gang leader¡¯s number as it sent out a series of texts several of the gang members, warning them of a possible leak to the police and impending raid on the current building and for the more valuable members to flee while the grunts hold the -(imaginary)- line.


    To one very lucky gang member she sent out a different order, one that said to take her and transport her to a second location where they¡¯d hand her off to a couple of other members who¡¯d secure her at an alternative -(and fictional)- base.


    All of this she did at the price of¡­ (Three more power¡­ Meaning I only have two left¡­)


    Knowing there was nothing else she could do at the moment, she hid her COMP once more, hoping that whoever was moving her did so by himself rather than with a few of her friends. In which case she was likely fucked.


    ¡°No! No, no, no, I have a plan, and I¡¯m going to be perfectly fine.¡± She told herself as the wait began to claw at her already thinly stretched sanity.


    If strained her ears she was able to hear people shouting and yelling on the other side of the door, as well as a number of pounding feet running around.


    Eventually a man in a suit slammed the door open, before grabbing her by the arm and roughly dragging her out of the room. As they moved through the building she made note of the dozen or so men who had been guarding her.


    (Isn¡¯t this a bit much for one girl?)


    She may¡¯ve been smart, and a rare Deviant sub-type, but even she thought this many armed men was a bit much for a single fledgling M.A.D.


    The gang member she¡¯d manipulated into aiding her escape threw her into the back of a car and pointed a gun at her.


    ¡°Try anything and I won¡¯t hesitate to shoot you, understand?¡±


    She nodded, too scared of the gun aimed at her to point out that she was already trying something, and that with this kind of guard she was fairly certain she was deemed too valuable to risk shooting.


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    Unaware that these were her true feelings on the subject, her captor nodded back before getting into the front seat of the car and driving towards the location his puppet master (her) had given him.


    As subtly as she could she pulled the COMP out of her pocket and used one of her last two units of power to have her AI create a brute force connection between the gangster¡¯s phone and her COMP. Using this connection, she disabled all of the phone¡¯s safety programs and charging restrictions, while lining up the phone¡¯s processor to start running her Generator () function at the click of a button.


    Hiding her COMP underneath her, she put on a frightened face -easy given the situation- and waited until her captor pulled over into a deserted parking lot a couple of miles from her home, but close enough to her testing ground for her to know her way back.


    ¡°Stay put, or else.¡± The gangster ordered, once more making a show with his gun.


    Her eyes never left the criminal as he exited the vehicle, her thumb hovering over the button that would use the last of her COMP¡¯s power to transfer her Function ()¡¯s program, while keeping the actual information locked to her machine.


    Now normally running a program off another device wouldn¡¯t cause too much damage, beyond possible malware. That said, her program had two unique things going for it.


    One. Her program was complex enough to need what was essentially a supercomputer to even process the first set of variables, and as such would produce a significant amount of heat in a lesser processor.


    Two. The program in question was designed to generate raw electrical energy in whatever device ran it.


    What most people would assume is that this would just recharge whatever device was running Generator (). At least until they checked the math and realized the device in question was producing enough electricity in a week to match a (weak) bolt of lightning.


    It took a few moments, during which her captor noted something odd going on in her pocket, but even with the man¡¯s semi-awareness her (ingenious) plan came to fruition as the criminal¡¯s smartphone caught fire in his pocket.


    (Aw, I was hoping for something more explosive¡­)


    Not letting her disappointment slow her down, she quickly reached around the seats and unlocked her door before quietly bolting out the door in the opposite direction from the gangster.


    (Just a little further and I¡¯m home free!)


    That thought jinxed her, as the criminal she thought occupied somehow managed to catch up to her and grab her by the edge of her hair, forcing her to a more than painful stop.


    ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going, bitch?!¡±


    Instinctively defaulting to what little self-defense she knew, she turned around and immediately kneed her attacker in the crotch, forcing him to let her go, and leaving her free to smash the brick like COMP into his face.


    Not bothering to see if he was down for the count, she turned and ran like her life depended on it, because she was fairly certain it did.


    As the pavement moved beneath her feet the city around her began to change, slowly shifting to places she was more and more familiar with as she ran, hid, and panicked in a desperate attempt to get home while avoiding being seen by anyone.


    But as she crested the hill to her street, exhausted, emotionally drained, and about ready to drop, she caught sight of the familiar two-story house she¡¯d grown up in, she couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    With a sudden second wind, she ran for her house bursting through the front door with enough energy to send the door bouncing off the wall.


    ¡°Guys, guys I¡¯m back!¡± She cried to undoubtedly relieved family.


    ¡°Ah, Maya, you made it back just in time for dinner.¡± Her father greeted her as he clearly tried to downplay the sheer amount of worry he¡¯d experienced through the day with his daughter¡¯s disappearance.


    ¡°Yeah, it was crazy day. I was kidnapped in the morning, and I had to use my COMP and this AI I made to manipulate the gang and then through my brilliant planning I was able to orchestrate an ideal opportunity to escape.¡± She babbled, trying to ease her father¡¯s clear worry by explaining how she could take care of herself in this dangerous city. ¡°I¡¯ll admit it did get a little hairy when that one criminal caught me, but I was able to fend him off well enough to escape!¡±


    Her father smiled, proud of his daughters daring escapades as he-


    ¡°That¡¯s nice sweetie, I hope you had fun with your game.¡±


    Something in her head stuttered. ¡°My¡­ what?¡±


    ¡°Your game? That¡¯s where you¡¯ve been all day, right?¡± Her father frowned before being dragged off by her younger brother tugging at his arm.


    ¡°But I was really¡­ kidnapped¡­¡± She trailed off quietly, watching as her her family continue to bustle about the house as if nothing had gone wrong today.


    (They¡­ they didn¡¯t even notice I was gone¡­)


    Something in her broke at that revelation.


    Filled with a sudden listlessness, she turned towards the stairs and started making her way up to her room.


    ¡°Maya,¡± Her mother called from below, showing a semblance of care, ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to eat, honey?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m uh, I¡¯m not hungry¡­¡± She told her mom, as her stomach rolled at the thought of pretending she¡¯d had a normal day.


    Her mother frowned in concern. ¡°Are you sure? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen you eat anything all day.¡±


    (That¡¯s because I wasn¡¯t here all day!)


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± She lied. ¡°I¡¯m uh, I¡¯m just going to do my thing¡­ in my room.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re sure¡­¡± Her mother nodded, before her attention was dragged away from the woman¡¯s clearly worn-down daughter and to whatever chaos her siblings were causing instead.


    (She didn¡¯t even notice¡­ did she?)


    Not wanting to think about it, she turned and slowly stumbled her way into the room she shared with her sister, before kicking off her shoes and letting her eyes drift between the TV where her game system was hooked up and her desk where a handful of metal bits and pieces were sitting in front of her laptop ready to be worked on.


    (I¡­ I feel like building something¡­)

 Prologue (Pt. 3)

    Prologue (Pt. 3)


    --- Maya ---


    During her escape she¡¯d been cutting it extremely close, and if she¡¯d needed her COMP or AI for anything else, then she¡¯d have been, shit out of luck. Meaning her first priority was to upgrade her COMP¡¯s battery storage to better accommodate her needs.


    Now practically speaking, her COMP was already storing an obscene amount of power equal to a good dozen or so car batteries. Admittedly she was only capable of storing that much due to the unique nature of her Function () letting her somehow store more energy in less space.


    In full disclosure, she only understood half of the mechanics behind the COMP¡¯s battery and only knew it had something to do with the theory of relativity. Beyond that she honestly had no idea what she was doing.


    (I do too, know what I¡¯m doing! You¡¯re just not smart enough to understand it!)


    (I am you.)


    (¡­)


    (¡­)


    (Shut up.)


    Purposely ignoring anything else her more reasonable half had to say, she continued working on her improvements to her battery. What¡¯s more, proving that she did in fact know what she was doing, she completed her upgrade using even fewer parts than she¡¯d estimated needing.


    (Just to be clear, you are sure we don¡¯t need those right?)


    (Yes, because I¡¯m a fucking genius!)


    If it wasn¡¯t for her little sister still sleeping behind her she would¡¯ve broken into a maniacal laughter.


    (Actually, you know what?)


    ¡°Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!¡± She began laughing quietly to herself.


    Scene Consequences


    -COMP Battery improved by 5 units.


    --Thanks to Critical half of resources (rounded up) have been refunded.


    -New Software and Hardware upgrades unlocked.


    Having worked through her emotions -and most of the night- she¡¯d finally devoted some of her significant brainpower to figuring out why (the fuck) her parents hadn¡¯t noticed her being kidnapped.


    First she¡¯d spent most of her summer vacation disappearing for the majority of the day to try and piece together however the hell her programs worked. So, her not showing up at home for a day wouldn¡¯t raise any red flags until after dinner. (Which thanks to my own brilliance I was able to attend, even if I skipped it.)


    That combined with the usual hectic chaos caused by having four kids, meant she¡¯d slipped under her parents¡¯ radar, (not that they don¡¯t love me.)


    She shook her head away from the depressing thought and forced herself to focus on happier thoughts, a truly healthy coping mechanism.


    (Hey, keep the commentary to yourself!)


    (I thought the commentary was my job?)


    (No, the narration is, the commentary isn¡¯t!)


    (Suit, yourself.)


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    ¡°Uh, you okay, sis?¡± A voice asked from behind her.


    She glanced over her shoulder, noticing a shaggy headed ten-year-old sitting up in the bed opposite of hers.


    ¡°Just plotting how to take over the tri-state area.¡± She told her younger sister Isabella, before turning back to her desk so she could continue arguing with the voices in her head.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t mad scientists supposed to try and take over the world?¡± Izzy asked sluggishly, likely assuming she was making plans for one of her games. (Like everyone does¡­)


    ¡°Do you know how much paperwork you get stuck with taking over the world?¡± She asked her sister seriously. ¡°Sure, it seems like a fun idea getting to tell everyone what to do, until you realize once you control everything you have to manage all of it. I mean sure you could delegate to minions, but half of them are going to try and stab you in the back and take the whole operation over for themselves.¡±


    She was so glad she was smart enough to notice that, unlike the half-wit M.A.D.s who somehow thought trying to conquer the world was a good idea.


    (Delusions of grandeur the lot of them¡­) She thought in a manner reminiscent of a pot calling a kettle black.


    (Hey, what¡¯s that supposed to mean?!)


    ¡°Then why the tri-state area?¡± Her sister asked, drawing her away from another argument.


    ¡°Oh, I figure I can pawn them off on you guys and then sit back and enjoy my dues.¡± She answered dismissively.


    Izzy thought about it for a moment before nodding. ¡°I could make a decent warlord. But what about the whole stabbing you in the back thing?¡±


    ¡°Meh, I¡¯d have a failsafe to destroy you all.¡±


    ¡°What you don¡¯t trust your baby sister?¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but give a snort of amusement. ¡°Hermanita, why do you think I have a thirty-six-digit alpha-numeric password on my computer?¡±


    Isabella shrugged, likely remembering the three or four time she¡¯d been caught reading someone else¡¯s diary. ¡°Point taken.¡±


    (I thought we did it to hide our smut?)


    (Speaking of, we should probably update our firewalls at some point given the sheer quantity you two have downloaded.)


    (Like you don¡¯t enjoy your slash fics.)


    (I enjoy them for the plot.)


    (Sure~)


    ¡°You coming down to breakfast?¡± Isabella asked, more than used to her elder sister¡¯s tendency to blank out for several moments as she argued with herself, even if she wasn¡¯t aware of the fact Maya¡¯s thoughts tended to argue back.


    Shaking her head and dragging her thoughts back into the present, Maya told her, ¡°I¡¯ll be down in a little while; I just have to finish up what I¡¯m doing here.¡± while gesturing to the few screws she still had to reattach to her COMP.


    ¡°Alright then.¡± Izzy yawned as she made her way out of the room.


    With her little sister gone, -and those last few screws returned to their proper place- she returned her focus back to her more Mask oriented thoughts, as she contemplated what to do with her brilliant mind, and scientific prowess.


    Originally her game plan had been to join a less than morally upstanding group of individuals in the hopes of making enough money to try and help her family, who despite her parents¡¯ assurances -(She¡¯d done the math. She knew they were lying.)- weren¡¯t in the best place financially.


    Unfortunately, the city¡¯s criminal element had tried to kidnap her, effectively pissing her off to the point where she¡¯d (make them rue the day they thought to cross Maya Williams!!!)


    (Why are you the main personality again?)


    (Because I¡¯m awesome?)


    (Right¡­)


    So, given how her criminal endeavors had ended before they¡¯d even begun, she was going with her back-up plan of becoming a heroic mask! (After all no one cares if you steal from criminals¡­)


    (Except for the criminals.)


    (Meh, they already pissed me off so fuck those guys.)


    (You¡¯re going to get us killed you know that?)


    (Hey, just go back to narrating shit!)


    (¡­)


    (Well?)


    (Err-mph.)


    This path also came with the added bonus of earning her parents pride and affection, something she was mildly starved of as a middle child.


    (I do not have fucking middle child syndrome you asshole!!!)


    (¡­)


    (¡­)


    (Are you done yelling at yourself?)


    (For now¡­)


    Now, of course to continue down this dangerous career path there were a number of things she needed to take care of and prepare before even thinking about going out into the night.


    (Such as a cool costume!)


    (Yes, that is very important, but there are other things too.)


    Regardless, there was plenty of time to take care of all of that, she just need to get started.

 Turn 1

    Turn 1


    --- Maya ---


    Despite having a fair number of parts left over after chipping away at her battery issue, she¡¯d noticed she was starting to run low on electronic parts, or at least lower than she¡¯d like.


    As such she found herself in a part of the house she¡¯d been gaining increasing familiarity with over the past few weeks, the basement. One of the two places all homes tended to store their lost and forgotten properties over time.


    It was also the one where she was most likely to find the discarded phones and handheld consoles of yesteryear. Such as the phone her older sister Vivi had thrown out when she¡¯d gotten the latest model for her birthday, or the broken laptop that had been cheaper for her dad to replace than repair.


    (Yes, I think I can work with these...)


    Scene Consequence


    -Found (D6 = 4) useable electronic parts.


    ---


    (You know we really shouldn¡¯t dismiss the lesser gangs¡­) Her saner self-warned as they browsed through a number of police reports that were (mildly)/(extremely) illegal for her to be reading.


    ¡°But they don¡¯t have the resources to find and kidnap me remember?¡± She reminded herself, not bothering to keep her speech to her thoughts since Izzy was out to one of her martial arts meets, leaving her with free reign of the room for the day.


    Now normally she¡¯d use this time for her games or other hobbies-


    (I guess it technically counts as reading.)


    (Shut up!)


    -but given her recent kidnapping she was forced to do something a little more practical-


    (Video games help with hand eye coordination!)


    (And they¡¯re fun!)


    (Will you two quit interrupting me?!)


    (¡­)


    (¡­)


    (Now then¡­)


    Given her recent kidnapping, she was forced to do something a little more immediately practical. -(Thank you!)-


    And as such, she was instead spending this time to investigate the criminal element of aaa, in the dire hopes of figuring out which organization was responsible for kidnapping her and in turn threatening the wellbeing of her family.


    From the reports she could get her hands on, there were currently three gangs in her city that could be considered something resembling an actual criminal organization, rather than just a handful of small-time thugs.


    Of those three, the largest threat to the city was probably a gang called the Gamer¡¯s Guild, or the GG for short. They were a group led by a mysterious Wonderlander going by the alias of GM to her followers. Essentially she used her wonderland to drag monsters into reality for her Party to fight, and upon beating them she¡¯d then use the left-over energy to grant them powers that she could strip them of whenever she pleased.


    ¡°Honestly, this is probably what we¡¯d do if we were a Wonderlander.¡±


    (Yep.)


    (Yep.)


    (Yep.)


    Still despite any similarities in style that may be shared, the Party caused constant damage to public property and civilians as they publicly fought these monsters. Sometimes even going so far as to loot whichever location their fight took place in.


    ¡°And since almost every member has powers, that makes them a special kind of dangerous¡­¡± She admitted, even her ego being intimidated by the prospect of fighting an entire gang of Masks.


    (True, but it also means they probably lack the technological prowess to track us down.)


    (So, why hasn¡¯t Sanctuary gone after these guys?)


    ¡°They have,¡± She noted scrolling through the various reports in front of her. ¡°But since they¡¯re empowered criminals rather than actual Deviants, their jurisdiction is¡­ limited apparently.¡±


    (Wonderful¡­) Her inner logic remarked with suitable sarcasm. (And what about the other two gangs, any chance they¡¯re responsible?)


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    Changing to a different set of reports and news clippings, she pulled up the next major power in the city, an Arcane group who referred to themselves as the Covenant. ¡°Who seem like an underground magic cult or something. And aside from distributing a bunch of black-market goods and a owning a couple of fight clubs, they don¡¯t really seem to have much going on crime wise¡­¡±


    (Don¡¯t most cults have kidnappings?) Her wilder side asked curiously, while making a surprisingly good point.


    She considered it for a moment before shaking her head. ¡°Yeah, no I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that kind of cult. It¡¯s looks like it¡¯s less ¡®religious¡¯ cult, and more ¡®secret society¡¯ cult.¡±


    (It makes sense given the recent rise of Arcane in both heroics and law enforcement.)


    (That and magic is cool!) Her inner child added with enthusiasm.


    ¡°Bah, magic is just a branch of science we don¡¯t understand yet.¡± She argued rather cynically for the usually optimistic girl, before rolling her eyes. ¡°We know magic is real, and it¡¯s an esoteric energy. Hell, some colleges teach it. I just think calling it ¡®magic¡¯ is stupid. I mean do you think anyone would take the Arcane seriously if they started calling themselves ¡®wizards.¡¯¡±


    (Oh, you¡¯re a wizard Maya.)


    ¡°I¡¯d be a witch.¡± She corrected, as she began pulling up files on the third gang of influence. ¡°And only after I hack reality and make it my bitch.¡±


    (I believe that is the point of magic.)


    Ignoring the voice in her head, she found that the last notable criminal organization of her city, was a relatively new group the police were referring to as the ¡®South Market Enforcers.¡¯ ¡°Which doesn¡¯t make much sense, given how they¡¯re based nowhere near the market district¡­¡±


    (That is curious¡­)


    (What kind of fun are they up to?)


    ¡°It looks like they¡¯re mostly into dealing drugs and weapons. Basically, if you can¡¯t get it from the Covenant, then these guys are probably selling it.¡±


    (Does that include human trafficking?)


    She skimmed through a few more reports before taking note of something interesting. ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so¡­ They actually seem to flee from anything resembling direct conflict or attention. In fact, the only time they seem to run deals is when another Mask is causing trouble nearby. The police have seen them active, but they haven¡¯t been able to make any actual busts at those times because helping with the Masks take priority.¡±


    (That sounds suspiciously convenient.)


    ¡°Cops think so too¡­¡± She noted, before pulling up a few of the files on the cases. ¡°Well, that¡¯s interesting. Most of these guys are random non-powered civilians¡­¡±


    (Then how can they be Masks?)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± She read a few reports both toxicology and interviews alike, ¡°Huh, someone is creating a drug that gives temporary superpowers apparently.¡±


    (I¡¯m guessing that insanity is a side-effect of that drug.)


    ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re passing the drugs out to the homeless, who then gain powers and go off on rampages after a few hits.¡±


    (During which they have the perfect distraction for their elicit deals.)


    She ran a hand down her face, it was a smart plan. A brutal, cruel, and manipulative plan. But still a smart plan.


    (Um, if none of these guys are into kidnapping or M.A.D.s then which one kidnapped us?)


    ¡°None of them, any of them, all of them¡­¡± She offered, completely unsure herself, and as she looked over the numerous pages and reports still open, she couldn¡¯t help but sigh.


    ¡°Either way, we¡¯ve got our work cut out for us.¡±


    Scene Consequence


    -Maya is more aware of the criminal element in her city.


    -New Software unlocked.


    ---


    Since she was already on her computer, she decided to do what was becoming a bit of a habit, and work through her feelings brought about by her research into the city¡¯s criminal element. After all she still had the room to herself for a few hours, so she figured now was a good enough time to begin coding the next program she¡¯d been thinking of.


    You see, in a number of video games there is one UI tool that had been a staple of games for years, one that was responsible for helping players find and seek out their goals, even going so far as to mark their enemies locations in some games. And while some games were beginning to make them an optional element for the more hardcore gamers, it didn¡¯t change the fact that the map -and it¡¯s mini- version- were some of the most useful tools in gaming.


    (And we want one!)


    (Yes, we¡¯re getting to that.)


    Originally, she¡¯d had very few ideas on how to implement her idea without building some scanners for her COMP, but after her escape she¡¯d discovered a work around that while not the ideal of what she wanted was still pretty damn close.


    By hacking into internet mapping software -as well as a few satellites- she was able to create her own version of a GPS map for COMP, one that displayed all the nearby buildings and what they looked like as of the last satellite photographs.


    Now on its own this was already useful tech that she could use to find her way around easier, it was also something any mediocre phone with an internet connection could pull off.


    (And we are not mediocre!)


    (Damn straight!)


    This was why despite making a fair amount of progress, she still considered her mapping program unfinished. (For now¡­)


    Unfortunately for her desire to finish her program as soon as possible however, she had several symptoms of ADHD, one of which made her grow extremely bored of working on the same program for hours and hours on end.


    Which led to her starting up a second completely different program, rather than finishing the one she started.


    (Hey, don¡¯t judge me! I¡¯m giving our AI an upgrade for being a good boy.)


    (Such a good boy! Yes, he is. Yes, he is!)


    Still, after all of the good work it had done in aiding her escape she figured upgrading her loyal AI to be a little more intelligent wouldn¡¯t hurt. What¡¯s more thanks to the fact that she¡¯d already coded all of the harder bits into her AI back when she¡¯d first designed it, she was capable of increasing the number of orders it could chain together by two!


    Or she would be as soon as she got it to quit recalling after each order and then immediately darting out to do the next one on the list. Something that instead of using less power to get things done like she¡¯d intended, was actually burning through her power supply (three times faster! Really, you artificial asshole?!)


    Needless to say, she was not happy about this.


    Scene Consequence


    -Progress made towards Map Software (1/2)


    -Progress made towards AI upgrade (1/2)

 Turn 2

    Turn 2


    --- Maya ---


    It wasn¡¯t until she was a fair way into her programming that she realized that with the number of programs she needed and the sheer amount of space all of them would take up far exceeded what her COMP was currently capable of managing, and as such she decided to go ahead and piece together some additional storage space to fit into her relatively small machine.


    (Actually, have you figured out how we¡¯re fitting so much data into such a small space?)


    ¡°It¡¯s got something to do with creating an imaginary array space.¡± She tried explaining to herself. ¡°Basically, we¡¯re using an initial function to create the space of the greater function, but that function require space of its own. Then we have to apply additional sub-functions to fill in this artificial array, by-¡±


    (I¡¯m going to be honest, I quit understanding after you lied about this being basic.)


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you me?¡± She paused as an important question occurred to her. ¡°I mean, shouldn¡¯t you be able to understand everything I understand?¡±


    (I think it has something to do with us representing pieces of yourself. Ergo we only get pieces of your knowledge, including the bits you may be ignoring.)


    ¡°I guess that makes sense¡­¡±


    (About as much sense as half the stuff we build anyway.) Her simpler side agreed.


    Scene Consequences


    -COMP Memory increased by 5. (Current Memory: 15)


    ---


    After installing the upgrade to her COMP memory, she decided to take things a step further and try and compress the data of her Generator () program since it was the largest of any of her current program. Of course, given how little she understood about this program, this basically boiled down to her removing bits and pieces of the program and then seeing if it still ran.


    A rather hap hazardous method all things considered.


    ¡°Oh, come on! It¡¯s not like we¡¯re risking anything¡± She waved off her own concern as she highlighted another section of the absurdly complex code.


    (I believe we¡¯re risking a fair amount by messing with the limiter safety protocols!)


    She paused before skimming through the data on the screen, slowly running the math behind it through her head.


    ¡°Huh, so it is.¡± She admitted with a blink. ¡°Delete.¡±


    (Why would you do that?!) Her saner self-screamed.


    ¡°Because if we remove the safety limiter then we¡¯ll start getting more power out of the function. I mean it¡¯s what a fifty-fifty chance of making everything explode right?¡±


    (That sounds about right.)


    (Are you mad?!)


    ¡°No, I¡¯m an M.A.D.¡± Her bat-shit psychotically insane primary personality laughed in a way that made her other personality fear for their sanity.


    (The ship¡¯s kind of sailed on that one.)


    (Why are we like this?!)


    Scene Consequences


    - Generator () Memory upgrade (1/2)


    - Generator () Power upgrade (1/2)


    ---


    (You know we really should take a break.) Her inner logic commented. (It¡¯s not healthy to run so many projects together without a break.)


    ¡°I have to work though, what if those guys attack us or something?¡± She asked, a hint of desperation bleeding into her tone as she continued to work. ¡°I need to be ready if they attack¡­¡±


    (Burning ourselves out on a dozen half-finished projects isn¡¯t going to help anyone.) Her saner self-reminded, not bothering to add the fact that they were currently working on a function that if they messed up would likely kill them.


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    She rolled her eyes, as she ran another test on her program. ¡°I¡¯m not going to get us killed.¡±


    As if to immediately prove her wrong, her comp began sparking as it produced far more energy than it should¡¯ve been able to contain. Completely deep-frying the test-battery her more intelligent self, had convinced her to test her functions on instead of the COMP¡¯s actual battery.


    ¡°Okay, no need to rub it in.¡± She told herself, pinching the bridge of her nose.


    (I do if it¡¯ll keep you from killing us.)


    ¡°Oh, come on!¡± She groaned. ¡°It was one mishap. We have like seventeen of those with each program. You¡¯re just being a whiny bitch about this.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ should I be worried?¡± A voice asked from behind her.


    A glance behind over her shoulder revealed her elder sister Viviana, a tall young woman who like her took more after their Latin mother with their dark hair and tanned skin.


    (Quick, meatsuit, say something!)


    ¡°What? No. I¡¯m just talking to myself.¡± She admitted, needing the little voice in her head to remind her how bad that sounded, before she hastily added that, ¡°It helps me think.¡±


    (Nice save.)


    (Shut up!)


    ¡°Sure¡­¡± Vi nodded, her status as a loving elder sister the only reason she was looking over Maya¡¯s inherent weirdness. ¡°Anyway, I was coming to see if you were joining game night.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s tonight?!¡± She cried.


    ¡°Uh-huh. So, hurry your butt up, hermanaita.¡± Vi told her as she left.


    Maya¡¯s eyes darted between her computer and the unfinished projects there, before darting to her where her sister had just been.


    Under normal circumstances she wouldn¡¯t think twice about canceling on whatever event her family was doing in an attempt to double down and finish one of her projects. The thing though, was that game night was the one night a week all of the Williams kids gathered together and played a number of games together, be they card, board, or video.


    Now the reason this was so important was due to the fact that she had several¡­ issues, when it came to connecting with people on a fundamental level. As such once she discovered her love of games, and the fact that other people enjoyed playing them with her, these games became a way for her to feel like a member of whatever group she played with rather than the weird outcast that she was usually designated as.


    And in that vein game night was the one night a week where she actually felt like a fully-fledged member of her family, rather than the odd outlier.


    All of this information circled through her mind as she tried to decide whether to continue working on the projects that would help her protect her family, or actually taking the time to enjoy the fact that she had a family to enjoy.


    (Just go already!) Her more passionate side prodded.


    Not needing any further encouragement, she undid the few wires that could¡¯ve caused a fire before heading down to the living room where her four siblings were gathered.


    Vi stood to the side having


    Her elder brother Tommy was slouched on one of the couches his legs crossed as he scrolled through his phone, headphones around his neck playing a faint song.


    On the floor was Izzy corralling their younger brother Seamus as he tried to play the game before everyone was ready.


    ¡°About time you got here, squirt.¡± Tommy told her as he caught sight of her.


    ¡°Yeah, I just had to take a project off of the power.¡± She explained, ¡°So what game am I kicking your a-¡± her eyes darted to Seamus, ¡°butts at tonight.¡±


    Vi gave a snort of amusement, handing her a controller. ¡°Deviant¡¯s Masquerade: All out combat. And no, you¡¯re not kicking our butts at it tonight, hermanita.¡±


    She pointed at her younger sister. ¡°Izzy what¡¯s my butt-kicking score right now?¡±


    Izzy pulled out a notebook from under the table, ¡°You¡¯re in the lead by five points, followed by Tommy, me, and Vi.¡±


    ¡°Sounds like the odds are in my favor last place.¡± She laughed in her totally normal, not at all maniacal manner. (Which wasn¡¯t as fun!)


    (At least it keeps them from realizing how insane we really are.)


    (Eh, we¡¯re not that bad.)


    (We¡¯re having an entire conversation without our main personality.)


    (That just means we have more personality than all of the posers!)


    (That¡¯s not how that works¡­)


    ¡°Enough talking, it¡¯s time for gaming!¡± She declared, as she and Vi began to pick their characters for their fighting tournament.


    And as the Williams kids played through the night, she once more held her lead as her team of scrappers tacticians dominated her sibling¡¯s teams, until only she and Izzy¡¯s team of bruisers and blasters remained.


    Of course, this meant that while she had the advantage of speed and debuffs, her sister had the advantage of tanks and ranged DPS, as shown by the fact that her best character was downed by a bullet to the head.


    (Fucking bullet spamming bitch! Get over here damn it!)


    (We need our own ranged attack¡­) She thought, part of her regretting picking an all melee team of fighters no matter how badass.


    (Actually, that¡¯s a good idea in general.) Her logical side pointed out. (If we¡¯re going to be doing this hero thing, we really should come up with some ranged options.)


    (Huh, that is a good idea.) She realized with a pause just long enough for her little sister to kick her character¡¯s ass.


    ¡°Wait, what?!¡± Her eyes darted to the TV just in time to watch her character be torn apart by one final combo as she flutily tried to break out of it. ¡°No. No, no, no!¡±


    With one final blow the screen shifted as the announcer called out, ¡°K.O.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I win!¡± Izzy shouted as jumped to her feet.


    ¡°So much for kicking all of our butts.¡± Tommy laughed, having been the last butt she kicked and thus the one she¡¯d most recently beaten into the ground with complimentary trash talking.


    (I feel like shooting something.) She thought bleakly as she stared at the screen.


    (We need dakka.) Her wilder half agreed succinctly.


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya has resolved to spend more time with her siblings.


    -New Hardware unlocked

 Turn 3

    Turn 3


    --- Maya ---


    Sick of the fact that she had so many half-finished programs and upgrades lying around, she decided to devote her morning to trying to finish up and clear out some of her programs. And given how it was currently her most important program, she¡¯d decided to start by finishing out both of the upgrades for her Generator () program.


    (Please tell me this time we aren¡¯t just going to gut the program and hope for the best.)


    ¡°No.¡± -(Aww¡­)- ¡°This time we¡¯re going to patch over everything we messed with last time, to make sure nothing is broken.¡±


    (Nothing would be broken if you hadn¡¯t gutted the program.)


    ¡°But nothing would be improved either, I mean look here.¡± She tapped on several windows open on her computer. ¡°We now have a full fifty percent increase in our power production!¡±


    (And we¡¯re looking at a two hundred percent increase in our chances of being electrocuted.) Her voice of reason tried to remind her.


    ¡°Meh, it¡¯s worth it.¡± She argued dismissively.


    (We¡¯re gambling high-risk, high reward, baby!)


    ¡°See she gets it!¡± She cheered enthusiastically.


    (You¡¯re both going to be the literal death of me¡­) Her inner reason groaned.


    (But we¡¯re not suicidal¡­) Her inner child pointed out.


    Scene Consequences


    -Generator () now generates 3 units of power each turn.


    -Memory size of Generator () has been reduced from 6 to 3.


    ---


    Deciding it was the ideal time for a break, now that she¡¯d finished half of her Software work in a single session, she headed downstairs to the kitchen to try and find something for lunch.


    Once in the kitchen though, her attention was captured by her elder sister Viviana typing away on her computer while referencing a book sitting on the kitchen table.


    (Must be doing her college work¡­) Her inner logic reasoned.


    (Ugh, that sucks!)


    (Yeah, at least we still get summer vacation.)


    Even if said vacation was spent being kidnapped and working on a number of inventions and programs that would kill her in a fiery explosion, should she screw up.


    (Hey, I enjoy working on my stuff!)


    (And I like explosions!)


    Glancing at the kitchen clock, she noted how it was just an hour past noon.


    (Eh, I¡¯ve got time. Maybe I can help her with whatever she¡¯s got going on.)


    (Smart sibling to the rescue!)


    (I don¡¯t think we¡¯re going to be as much help as we want to be.)


    ¡°Nonsense we¡¯re brilliant.¡± She dismissed that thought as nonsense.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Vi looked up from her work. ¡°What did you say, My?¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh,¡± She blinked before coughing into her hand. ¡°I wanted to see if you needed any help with your homework.¡±


    Vi gave her a snort of amusement. ¡°I¡¯m not sure you¡¯ll get all of this.¡±


    Maya waved her sister off. ¡°I¡¯m a genius, how hard can it be?¡±


    ¡°Deviant psychology.¡± Vi told her with a smirk. ¡°If it was math or physics then maybe you could help, but¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure I can still help with¡­ this.¡± She argued, gesturing to the book on the table as she took a seat. (After all I am a Deviant myself.)


    ¡°Alright, how about a test question then?¡± Her sister asked, deciding to humor her. ¡°What are the seven primary Deviancies?¡±


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    ¡°Oh, um¡­ M.A.D.s, Arcane, Psychics, Deadmen, Wonderlanders, Slashers, and¡­¡± She reached around her head before guessing, ¡°Punks?¡±


    ¡°Ah, and you were so close.¡± Vi winced before smiling. ¡°The last one is Malcontent. Punks are made by M.A.D.s so they¡¯re not technically Deviants.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She frowned, as she remembered that little bit of information.


    (Ooh, we should make out own Cyber-Punk!)


    (First, we have to find someone willing to let us perform surgery on them.)


    (This is a bad idea in general.)


    Deciding to put a pin in that idea for after she has a decent foundation, she decided to ask, ¡°So, uh, what exactly does this class cover?¡±


    ¡°Mostly the little ways Deviants differ from regular people.¡± Vi explained.


    She couldn¡¯t help but frown at the way that sounded. ¡°But aren¡¯t Deviants regular people still?¡±


    ¡°Well, yeah.¡± Vi agreed, thankfully clearing any possibilities of her being prejudiced against Deviants, which Maya was. ¡°The thing is their powers have these subtle little influences on the way they think.¡±


    ¡°Like how M.A.D.s are supposed to be crazy?¡±


    (Which we aren¡¯t!) Assured the voice in her head.


    ¡°Sort of, it¡¯s more about how like M.A.D.s are curious to the point of having almost no survival instincts when working on their projects.¡± Vi tried to elaborate.


    (I prove that theory wrong!)


    (And I prove it right! Heh-heh-heh!)


    ¡°Or how Slashers are compelled to violence, or how Deadmen have these obsessions controlling them. The class is all about things like that.¡± Vi continued, happy to show off what she knows to her genius little sister.


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± (If Deviant psychology really is different from normal people, then maybe that¡¯s something we should look into¡­)


    Still that was a plan for later, for now it was time for lunch.


    ¡°Hey, have you already eaten?¡± She asked, moving back to her original task.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m good.¡± Vi nodded, as she went back to her work. The tendency towards single-mindedness apparent in all of the Williams children in some way or fashion.


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya is more aware of Deviants and how some of them think.


    ---


    Getting back to her desk and resuming her own work she began picking out choice pieces of metal and circuitry and piecing them together.


    She¡¯d finally realized, that if someone was out to get her ¨C(which my kidnapping proves is the case)- then she needed a way to physically protect herself. Because while her AI was a useful little minion capable of gathering information and manipulating gang members, it sadly wasn¡¯t very useful if they realized they were being played.


    Thus, came into being her new project, a weapon intended to defend herself.


    Now ideally this would be a weapon with a fair amount of range so that she could pick off her attackers at a distance. Unfortunately, this was her first attempt to actually use her COMP¡¯s power to influence the world in a meaningful way.


    (What about that thing with the exploding phone?)


    (If I had my own eyes I¡¯d be rolling them right now¡­)


    And as such, the device she was crafting would only be able to send out a burst of energy a short distance away from her, making it better as a melee weapon than as an actual firearm.


    ¡°As long as it does it¡¯s job, then I¡¯m not complaining.¡± She told herself, as she continued typing out the program that would manage the power transfer between her COMP and her newly made Hand Cannon (Mk. 1). Ensuring that the former of the two wouldn¡¯t cause the latter to explode while it was still attached to her hand.


    (But then we could get a robot arm!)


    She paused at that thought before shaking her head. ¡°Uh, let¡¯s not take the mad scientist thing that far, alright?¡±


    (Boo! Coward!)


    Ignoring the jeers of her inner crazy, she picked up the Hand Cannon (Mk. 1). A handheld machine that was essentially a bulky metal ring she could wrap around her palm, with a switch on the side for her thumb, and a second forward facing ring on her palm. It wasn¡¯t necessarily pretty given how various wire and metal bits stuck out at odd angles, but once plugged into her COMP it would allow her to throw out short bursts of energy from her hand.


    Deciding that the metal was cool enough to begin testing, she loaded her newly defined ¡®Blaster Protocols ()¡¯ onto her COMP-


    (Actually, aren¡¯t you skimping out on those a bit?) Her inner reason asked, having noticed just how sparse this program was compared to the rest.


    ¡°Eh, I just need it to transfer power into the cannon and let it rip on a manual trigger. Outside of managing the output it¡¯s not that complicated.¡± She explained as if it were obvious, which to herself it probably was.


    ¡°You are me.¡± She pointed out plainly.


    (The point stands.)


    Rolling her eyes, she moved to put the Hand Cannon onto her, well, hand, only to pause as her survival instincts once more chimed in, proving their elder sister¡¯s textbooks wrong.


    (Before you do that, consider if we really should be putting the soon to be burning metal, directly upon our skin¡­)


    She paused, before sneaking into Tommy¡¯s room and stealing a pair of black fingerless gloves he¡¯d gotten back when he¡¯d been trying to figure out his ¡®rocker look.¡¯


    (Should you really be stealing from your brother?)


    (Meh, it¡¯s not like he actually wears these.)


    (Besides they make me feel cool.)


    Mentally agreeing with her more childish self, she put the gloves on before slipping the hand cannon over it and flexing her hand to make sure it didn¡¯t impede her motions too much.


    Nodding to herself, she clinched her fist, waiting for the cannon to begin sparking, before thrusting her palm out sending a burst of electricity jumping through the air to fade a few steps away.


    (Really glad that didn¡¯t hit the wall¡­)


    (Do it again! Do it again!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Hand Cannon (Mk. 1) unlocked.


    -Blaster Protocols () developed. These protocols are Software applying to the use of all blaster type weapons, and upgrades while apply to all weapons of this category regardless of Hardware.

 Turn 4: Scrap for the Scrap God

    Turn 4: Scrap for the Scrap God


    --- Maya ---


    (Bolts for the bolt throne!)


    She paused halfway into a new box. ¡°What the fuck was that?¡±


    (I don¡¯t know it just felt appropriate.)


    She waited a moment, hoping for a little more elaboration, before finally shaking her head. (I don¡¯t have time for my crazy¡¯s crazy.)


    (Hey, I resemble that remark!)


    Choosing to ignore her more deranged self, she continued her search through the basement for parts she could use to improve her tech. After all she¡¯d burned through the majority of her stash of electronics when piecing together her Hand Cannon and her COMP upgrades.


    And as luck -or her father¡¯s apparent hoarding tendencies- would have it, she¡¯d managed to find a box that was full of a number of old handheld consoles that had been thrown away over the years. Admittedly they were more plastic than useable parts, but the sheer quantity of parts was more than enough to make up for their lacking quantity.


    As she hefted the box up to carry it back to her room, she stubbed her toe on a piece of metal sticking out from under a pile of random junk.


    (Motherfucker that stings!)


    ¡°I know!¡±


    Dropping the box of already broken electronics, she kicked aside the junk pile to reveal what appeared to be a car part of some kind.


    ¡°Why the fuck is this even down here?!¡± She asked the air around her, something that would typically not get a response but given her mental state- ¡°Now is not the time for sass!¡±


    (I don¡¯t know I¡¯m feeling kind of sassy.)


    Shaking her head in irritation, she tugged the piece of scrap metal out of the pile and began considering what to do with it.


    (Set it on fire and laugh maniacally!)


    ¡°That¡¯s kind of pointless to something that doesn¡¯t feel pain.¡± She pointed out bitterly.


    (True, but a good maniacal laugh will make you feel better.)


    ¡°Maybe later¡­¡± She commented, thinking if any of her inventions had a need for a large quantity of metal.


    Now usually due to her coding specialty, she only really needed circuitry and electronic bits to work with.  Unfortunately, this meant that while all of her current equipment was compatible with her programs on some level, they were also largely undefended, and easily broken under a heavy enough impact.


    (Like a computer without the casing¡­)


    She tossed the metal in her hands a bit, while she currently lacked the tools to really make use of the metal, that didn¡¯t change the fact that if she wanted to make bigger things, she needed stronger materials to tack it onto. And even if she couldn¡¯t use the parts now, there was no reason she couldn¡¯t start stocking up for later.


    (I guess that means I should keep the plastic bits of these consoles too¡­) She figured, taking a look at the box of plastic electronics.


    (Waste not, want not.) Her voice of reason agreed.


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (D6 = 6) Electronics. While searching also found (D6 = 3) Plastic.


    -Gathered (D6 = 2) Scrap.


    -New Resource, New Upgrades.


    A/N: Originally I was only going to introduce one new resource, but the Crit and the plan name made me change my mind.


    ---


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    ¡°Hey, squirt, what are you doing down here?¡± Tommy asked as he made his way down into the basement.


    ¡°Oh, uh, I was just looking for parts for one of my projects.¡± She told him, after all her family knew she liked to tinker, even if they didn¡¯t know she was an M.A.D.


    (It¡¯s because we haven¡¯t made a death-ray yet!) Her inner child whined. (All good mad scientists have death-rays!)


    (Well, if you count the Hand Cannon, we¡¯re already half-way there!) She reminded herself.


    (I thought we didn¡¯t want them realizing we¡¯re a Deviant?) Her other self-reminded back.


    (It¡¯s more we don¡¯t want them to know we¡¯re a mask, and if they know we¡¯re a Deviant then-)


    ¡°Uh, Maya?¡±


    She blinked before remembering her brother was in the room with her. ¡°Uh, yeah?¡±


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Tommy asked carefully.


    ¡°Fine.¡± She nodded.


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± Tommy nodded reluctantly, ¡°Uh, did you need something?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± She glanced around before noticing that Tommy was pulling his band¡¯s musical equipment into the middle of the room. ¡°Oh, uh, no, no, I was¡­ Sorry, I got lost in thought for a minute there.¡±


    Tommy shrugged, his concern melting into a laidback grin as he sat down with his guitar and strummed a few chords, ¡°It¡¯s fine, happens to the best of us.¡±


    ¡°Mm-hmm.¡± She nodded back, before listening to the song he was playing.


    (I¡¯ve always wondered how he comes up with these songs¡­)


    (Maybe he hears the whispers!) Her inner madness squeed excitedly.


    (I very much doubt he¡¯s a musical M.A.D.) Her inner reason cautioned.


    (Still, he must be getting his ideas from somewhere.) She figured, gently swaying to the tune.


    (Well, why not just ask?)


    Figuring there was no reason not to, she waited until Tommy seemed to hit a stopping point on his song, before asking, ¡°How do you come up with the music for your songs?¡±


    Tommy gave her a curious look. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I mean, you write like what? Three songs a week?¡± She gestured to a pile of nearby music sheets. ¡°How do you find so much inspiration?¡±


    ¡°Mm, you¡¯re giving me little too much credit their sis.¡± Tommy admitted with a smile. ¡°Writing a bunch of lyrics on a piece of paper is different from putting music to them. Hell, I only really write one good song a month, the rest end up in the recycling bin.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s what I mean, how do you come up with that one good idea?¡± She pressed; her curiosity unyielding now that it had been unleashed.


    ¡°That¡¯s a bit of a question I suppose¡­¡± Tommy admitted, as his eyes drifted to the basement ceiling. ¡°If I had to explain it, I guess my music is mostly about feeling it out.¡±


    ¡°Feeling it out?¡± She repeated as her face scrunched up in confusion.


    ¡°Yeah, feeling it out.¡± Tommy nodded. ¡°Like I take this barebones of what I made, and then from there I sort of just¡­ do what feels right you know?¡±


    ¡°Uh, no?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Right, you always were more of a hands-on learner¡­¡± Tommy frowned back, before snapping his fingers as an idea came to him. ¡°Hold on I got it.¡±


    Taking his guitar, he plugged it into a nearby amp, before gesturing for her to come over.


    ¡°Okay, now just put your hand on the amp and close your eyes.¡±


    Seeing no reason not to, she did as instructed.


    ¡°Alright, now just feel it out, hermanita.¡± Tommy told, her as he began to play a song she hadn¡¯t heard before. ¡°Let the music flow, and take you where it goes¡­¡±


    As she continued to hear the song, to feel the vibrations from the speaker, she began to hum along an idea slowly forming in her head as she did so.


    Scene Consequences


    -New upgrades available.


    -Grown a bit closer to Tommy.


    ---


    Figuring that she still had a few hours to work before having to head to bed, and riding a wave of creativity that had hit her after her talk with her brother, Maya decided to use that time to finish out her GPS mapping program so that she could move on to bigger projects.


    As it stood the program was little more than an advanced GPS map using a few hacked satellites to create a detailed overview of the world. On its own this was something any smart phone could achieve with an internet connection and a recent enough map update.


    (Meaning we have to give it a proper overhaul.) She thought to herself, mindful of the fact her early bird sister was already lying down to sleep.


    To this end, she was programming in a passive effect into the program so that any wi-fi receptible device within a radius of her COMP would be marked for both easier hacking and tracking. Both things that her AI had done to help her escape when she¡¯d been kidnapped and could do again with a simple order or two.


    The real trick of this program came into place when she actually turned it on.


    For, while flexible her AI had the problem of needing a fair amount of power to change its orders and implement and edit whatever random coding her AI needed to fulfill said orders.


    In contrast to this, thanks to the fact her Map () was both simpler in nature and merely running a much simpler piece of code on loop, she was able to implement the passive program with virtually no cost to her actual power supply.


    Scene Consequences


    -Map () program has finished.


    --In addition to basic GPS, Map () also passively identifies and marks any wi-fi device within its range.


    -New Upgrades available.

 Turn 5

    Turn 5


    --- Maya ---


    Even after finishing out a different project and getting a night of sleep, the buzz of creativity her brother had instigated the day before, had yet to settle.


    Forgoing breakfast for the time being she moved to her computer and began typing, her fingers dancing across the keyboard as a tune began to hum from the whispers in the back of her mind.


    She¡¯d grown use to the whispers when building or programming, enough so that she didn¡¯t really think on them too hard, just listened to their advice as they told her the secrets to the universe.


    This though, this was different.


    Usually she was the hand of the voices, piecing together their directions to try and bring marvels she could just barely understand into reality.


    This time however, she was the one directing things, she understood everything the whispers were telling her, or rather they were telling her exactly what she needed for what she wanted, rather than all of the unnecessary background information that she could barely recall.


    By itself, this made her M.A.D. state feel more like she was making art, instead of the frantic fervor that made up the rest of her inventing.


    But while she was inventing, this meant she worked twice as fast as she usually did, remembered twice as many of the secrets the whispers had given her, and that she figured out how to conduct sound into the symphony of her programs.


    Scene Consequences


    -Unlocked [Sound] as an energy type.


    -New upgrades available and unlocked.


    ---


    As she finished out the last of the program she was working on, and she noticed the whispers of inspiration beginning to fade back into the shadows of her mind, a curious question came to mind.


    ¡°Why are you two so different from the other voices?¡± She asked the space around her.


    (Whatever do you mean?)


    ¡°Like, you two are different from the rest of the voices in my head. You¡¯re not like the whispers going on about plans, questions, and what I need to do next.¡± She tried to elaborate. ¡°And you guys don¡¯t really fill in the blanks on whatever I¡¯m building like they do.¡±


    (Well, I like to think I fill in the blanks on your survival instincts.) Her inner reason stated plainly.


    (But survival instincts are boring!)


    ¡°No, you see this is what I mean though.¡± She interrupted before the two could go off on another tangent. ¡°I¡¯m tinkering, building, or anything like that and yet you two are still talking. Yet I can¡¯t actually hear any of the other voices right now.¡±


    (Hmm¡­ I suppose that is a little curious¡­) Her inner logic admitted.


    (No, voices and whispers are two completely different things!) Her more childish self stated as if it were obvious.


    ¡°Different how?¡±


    (Voices are louder than whispers, and whispers are subtler than voices.)


    (That¡¯s¡­ She¡¯s not wrong, but¡­)


    ¡°That¡¯s not quite what I was looking for.¡± She finished for herself as she pinched the bridge of her nose.


    (Well, it¡¯s what I got.)


    Forcing down her irritation, she decided to try coming at this from a different angle. ¡°So, I know we already talked about how you guys are parts of my personality, but how exactly are you different from me?¡±


    (I¡¯m tons of fun, and she¡¯s no fun at all.)


    (I¡¯m your survival instincts, she¡¯s your recklessness.)


    (Well, I guess that¡¯s one way to answer that question¡­)


    (Two ways.) Her inner child (un-)helpfully pointed out.


    ¡°Alright, well then¡­ what exactly do you two want? I mean you¡¯re stuck in my head, so¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±


    (Well, we¡¯re you. So, I suppose we want what you want.)


    (Porn and adventure?)


    (¡­)


    She tried very hard not to blush at the awkward silence in her own head.


    (Okay, we admittedly want different things that you want¡­) The¡­ more modest voice reasoned carefully. (What I want us if for us to survive and succeed whatever this world throws at us.)


    ¡°Well, I can get behind that.¡± She admitted.


    (What about my stuff?)


    ¡°No comment.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    -For synergizing with her madness, Maya¡¯s next Software and Hardware Actions are both guaranteed for Critical Success. (Note: That means one guaranteed crit for each.)


    -Grown a bit closer to the voices in our head¡­ (Is that really a good thing?)


    ---


    Eventually after a long, migraine-inducing, talk with herself, she ended up wandering downstairs and into the kitchen to grab a late breakfast/ early lunch. (It¡¯s formally called a brunch.)


    And as she sat down to eat, she couldn¡¯t help but look out the door to the backyard and notice Izzy going through a number of katas and forms as she practiced (how to break someone¡¯s legs!)


    (Not all martial arts are about breaking people¡¯s legs.)


    (Just the fun ones!)


    Ignoring her other-selves¡¯ bickering she continued to watch her sister as she ate, before slowly coming to the realization that, (if we¡¯re going to be fighting crime, we should probably learn how to actually fight.)


    (And how to break their legs!)


    (Well, Izzy is taking three different martial arts classes¡­) Her more logical half reminded. (Perhaps she¡¯d be up for offering a few pointers.)


    (On how to break legs?)


    Shaking her head clear, she cleaned up her mess before heading over to her sister.


    ¡°Hey, hermanita!¡± She called, once outside.


    Izzy paused what she was doing to give her a curious look. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I was just wondering if you, uh, you wanted a sparring partner.¡± Maya explained, as she walked towards the practice mat.


    Izzy blinked, ¡°Uh, aren¡¯t you¡­¡± Her sister coughed into her hand. ¡°Do you even know how to fight?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± She waved off her younger sister¡¯s concern. ¡°Just because you¡¯re the one who likes to fight doesn¡¯t mean mom and dad didn¡¯t make sure the rest of us knew how to take care of ourselves.¡±


    ¡°I know, but that doesn¡¯t mean you know how to handle a real spar.¡± Izzy pushed, though the fact that she was making space for Maya on the mat was telling.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯ll be fine,¡± She assured her sister, as she stretched her arms out, ¡°After all I know Mortal Kombat.¡±


    ¡°Dios mio.¡± Izzy shook her head as she took her stance with a smile on her face. ¡°I am going to kick your butt so hard.¡±


    Let it be known Isabella Williams is not a liar.


    Scene Consequences


    -[Fighting] Skill unlocked.


    --Can now challenge Izzy to a spar to improve [Fighting] skill.


    -Scene Synergy!


    ---


    Laying in a pile of agony and humiliation, she waited for the bruises from the twenty-three consecutive times she¡¯d gotten her ass kicked by her younger sister.


    (Well¡­ No one can call us a quitter at least.)


    (Really they can¡¯t.)


    ¡°You two aren¡¯t helping.¡± She grumbled, too tired to care about the fact that Izzy was watching.


    ¡°May¡¯ve kicked your butt a little too hard.¡± Izzy admitted without an ounce of guilt.


    ¡°Izzy! Maya!¡± A voice shouted happily, before something shadowed her view and began licking her face.


    ¡°Down girl, down.¡± She ordered, spitting out and wiping off the drool from her face.


    (Eww!)


    It was of course the moment she got her face clean that thirty-five pounds of toddler decided to jump on top of her, to the audible amusement of her other younger sibling.


    ¡°Oof!¡± She gasped, before taking in a shaky breath as she wrapped her arms around her brother. ¡°Seamus.¡±


    ¡°Maya!¡± Seamus greeted back happily.


    ¡°And what are you up to today?¡± She asked, trying to ignore the way her little brother had exasperated the bruises left by her little sister.


    ¡°Playing!¡±


    She gave the boy a curious look. ¡°Oh, and what are you playing?¡±


    ¡°Superhero!¡± Seamus answered bouncing, in a way that forced her to set him down or suffer. ¡°And Missy ¡®s my sidekick!¡± The boy told her pointing to the family¡¯s pit bull who was happily watching the proceedings.


    ¡°Oh, well if you¡¯re going to play superhero, then you know what you need?¡± She asked in a serious tone.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°A supervillain!¡± She declared, striking a dramatic pose.


    ¡°Maya you¡¯re a supervillain!¡± Seamus gasped.


    ¡°I¡¯ve considered it.¡± She admitted, seeing no reason to lie to the soon to be pre-Ker. ¡°That said¡­¡±


    Spinning in place she struck another pose as she pointed dramatically as Seamus. ¡°You shall not thwart me today-¡± She leaned in and asked. ¡°What¡¯s your superhero name?¡±


    ¡°Seamus!¡± Her toddler brother shouted with a giggle.


    Dropping into a crouch she gave her brother a look. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to level with you kid. We need to workshop this hero name of yours.¡±


    Bouncing back into a pace, she began unleashing a filtered stream of thoughts from the depths of her own madness. ¡°You see, a name is an identity, a mask, a persona, that influences who you are. As such you need something with a certain gravitas. A title to empower you, and allow you to reach to heights you could never achieve with your mortal name, as forever etch it into the legends of history!¡±


    She turned back to her little brother who was watching with the appropriate amount of awe. ¡°You understand?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Seamus nodded happily.


    ¡°Then¡­¡± She coughed into her hand before once more striking a pose. ¡°You shall not thwart me today-¡± She gave Seamus a look.


    ¡°Captain Seamus!¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She trailed off.


    (Remember, the dear hasn¡¯t even started school yet.)


    ¡°Right¡­ I know that¡­¡± She shook her head, before once more resetting her appropriately dramatic pose. ¡°You shall not thwart me today Captain Seamus and¡­¡±


    ¡°Miss Missy!¡± Seamus filled in.


    ¡°Miss Missy!¡± She finished, trying very hard not to cringe as she played along for her brother.


    (Just wait, we¡¯ll be dealing with proper professionals soon enough.)


    ¡°Today me and my minion,¡± She grabbed Izzy before she could escape, ¡°shall reign victorious!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t drag me into this¡­¡± Izzy whined.


    ¡°Do it or I¡¯ll tell mom you beat me up.¡± She hissed back quietly.


    ¡°You told me to!¡± Her sister shouted indignantly.


    ¡°Mom doesn¡¯t know that.¡± She pointed out, despite both knowing full well their mother would punish both of them for actually fighting, rather than just going through katas.


    Izzy glared at her. ¡°I defect!¡±


    Maya couldn¡¯t help but blink. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I defect.¡± Izzy broke out of Maya¡¯s grip and walked over to Seamus¡¯s side. ¡°I¡¯m a good guy now.¡±


    ¡°Yay!¡± Seamus cheered.


    (Death to the traitor!)


    ¡°No! Betrayed by my own minion!¡± She cried, taking a dramatic step back. ¡°I knew I should have gone in on those robo-minions!¡±


    She paused as she fully processed that line. (Huh, you know that¡¯s not a bad idea all things considered¡­)


    Sadly, this revelation did very little to change the fact that their game was three vs. one, given how voices in the head do not count. -(Hey! I totally count!)- Meaning, for the second time that day Maya was thoroughly trounced by her younger siblings.


    Scene Consequences


    -Inspiration: New Hardware unlocked.


    -Grew a little closer to Seamus, Missy, and Izzy.

 Turn 6

    Turn 6


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Another day, another program.¡± She told the voices in her head.


    (Wait, I thought we were counting by turns?)


    Ignoring her inner crazy, she pulled up the various programs she used to write her actual programs. ¡°Alright, so we¡¯ve got electricity, and sound, what¡¯s the next energy type we should go for?¡±


    (I suppose heat, would be the easiest.) Her inner logic reasoned. (Especially if we ever want to figure out how to actually work with materials, rather than just patchworking circuitry with duct tape and prayers.)


    (Whoa, living on a prayer!)


    ¡°I guess, we do need it if we want to figure out how to melt things down.¡± She admitted, even as her wilder side decided to sing a song that while good, actually had very little to do with the current subject.


    (Just let her have this, dear.)


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Shaking her head clear, -or as clear as it could get when you¡¯re sharing it with two others- She began typing, using what little bit she¡¯d picked up on manipulating energy from her work with the Generator ()¡¯s electricity, and the sound files her brother had inspired.


    And of course, she took a moment to follow her brilliant self¡¯s advice, to chain her work on Heat into a secondary program that would make it significantly easier to work with actual materials.


    Admittedly the only material she could really work with at the moment was plastic, and that was only if she didn¡¯t touch it, and gave it a fair amount of space for any potential fumes to escape.


    Still even with her attention slit between projects, her growing experience and the motivational assistance given by her inner child¡¯s singing of increasingly inspirational songs, she managed to somehow finish both of her projects in a single sitting.


    Scene Consequences


    -Software Crit used.


    -Unlocked [Heat] as an Energy.


    -New upgrades available.


    -Developed Alchemy 1.0 ()*


    --Can now work with Plastic.


    -New upgrades available and unlocked.


    *A/N: Okay, complete honesty Alchemy 1.0 () was supposed to be a 2-part program, but I accidently didn¡¯t mark that in the choices. That said, Alchemy would¡¯ve given a point to Heat development if unlocked first, due to being a higher-level program and overlapping with a lower level one. So, I went ahead and moved the Crit to munchkin things in our favor, given how it was my bad in the first place.


    ---


    Deciding that after finishing out two separate -if overlapping- programs it was time to take a break, she head downstairs to watch TV. Largely because while she had her own TV in her room it did not have a cable connection because her parents believed they¡¯d never see her if she did.


    She wasn¡¯t willing to confirm or deny this assumption.


    Unfortunately for her plans, once she¡¯d actually made it downstairs she saw her (bitch of a) sister had already laid claim to the (holy) entertainment center.


    (Come now, don¡¯t be melodramatic.) Her inner logic told her in an exasperated tone.


    (I¡¯m not being melodramatic. I have someone to do that for me.) She argued,


    (Give us the TV before we end your bloodline!)


    (¡­)


    (Aren¡¯t we technically part of her bloodline?)


    (¡­)


    (My point stands.)


    (Uh¡­)


    (It stands I say!)


    Choosing to once more ignore the growing insanity within her own mind, she took a seat next to Vi on the couch.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°So, what are you watching?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know, it¡¯s some kind of reality superhero show.¡± Vi admitted blandly her eyes never leaving the screen.


    ¡°Like actual reality tv, or some kind of weird parody.¡± She asked, a morbid curiosity driving her on.


    ¡°Reality.¡± Vi told her. ¡°The fake kind.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± She didn¡¯t know how to respond to that, and as she continued watching she found she couldn¡¯t look away. ¡°It¡¯s like¡­ a train wreck¡­ I can¡¯t look away.¡±


    ¡°I know, it¡¯s just so¡­ bad¡­¡± Vi agreed.


    ¡°What¡¯s even going on right now?¡± She asked, as a woman slapped a man.


    ¡°I think those two are a couple, and he¡¯s cheating on her with her sister?¡±


    ¡°Like mom¡¯s telenovelas?¡± She vaguely remembered an episode with that plot, or she thought that was the plot anyway.


    ¡°No, in those he¡¯d be her sister.¡± Vi reminded her.


    ¡°I¡­ do they even have Mask battles, or is this all¡­ trash?¡± She asked, as the show cut away to another scene that was just people sit around.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so¡­¡±


    ¡°Are, are they even Deviants?¡± She asked, ¡°Because I can¡¯t tell if this would be more or less offensive if they are¡­¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s like half fake and half real, uh, that guy,¡± She pointed to a man wearing guyliner with tattoos up and down his arms. ¡°He¡¯s an actual Arcane, but he doesn¡¯t really do anything with it.¡±


    ¡°Then how do you know he¡¯s an Arcane?¡±


    ¡°Uh, he summoned a¡­ a thing, and I actually don¡¯t know what happened from there¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think this show is good for our brains.¡± She told her sister.


    (As your brain, I can confirm this is physically hurting me!)


    (Aww, but it¡¯s such a good show!)


    (You shut up. And you turn this off now!)


    She blinked as the show cut to commercial, before lunging for the remote and changing it to the news. A full body shudder passed through her. ¡°I hate reality TV¡­¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Vi agreed with a shudder.


    She turned back to her sister with a horrified look. ¡°Why were you even watching that?¡±


    ¡°I went to the bathroom during a crime show, and when I came back that garbage was on!¡± Vi defended.


    ¡°Eww, we need to watch something else. Clean the mental palette.¡± She told her sister as she opened the TV guide.


    ¡°With what?¡±


    ¡°Sci-fi.¡± She declared succinctly.


    ¡°Nerdy Sci-fi or good sci-fi?¡± Vi asked with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°Nerdy sci-fi is good sci-fi.¡± She answered with her own narrowed eyes.


    Vi watched her for a moment before stealing the remote back. ¡°We¡¯re watching supernatural teen dramas.¡±


    ¡°What? No!¡± She shouted, trying to reach for the remote as her sister pressed her head away with her (freakishly) long arms. ¡°If we¡¯re watching supernatural it has to be a horror!¡±


    ¡°I was here first, and I get to pick!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re picking wrong!¡± She argued, ducking under Vi¡¯s arm and stealing the remote back. ¡°If you won¡¯t watch horror how about an action anime?¡±


    The two continued on like this for a good hour, before Izzy came in and switched it to MMA pointing out they¡¯d had the TV for the last two hours and it was her turn. She also reminded them it wasn¡¯t her fault they¡¯d wasted their turns.


    Scene Consequences


    -New Upgrades down the road.


    -Grown a bit closer with Vi.


    ---


    Having been effectively kicked off the TV, she returned to her room where she decided to go ahead and take a look through her computer¡¯s archive to try and see if she had any unfinished projects. In the hopes of finishing three for three with her projects that day. And as luck would have it, she did have the beginnings of an upgrade for her AI that she¡¯d somewhat forgotten about between all of her other projects.


    (Huh, I guess it¡¯s time to figure this one out¡­)


    Going over her notes, she remembered the main reason she¡¯d walked away from the project had been because for whatever reason her AI would remember all of its orders, but it would then return as if it had only received one before quickly setting out to the next task on its list.


    ¡°Alright, either of you got any idea what we were doing wrong here?¡± She eventually asked, after staring at the coded for an hour trying to parse where she was messing up.


    (Hmm, no¡­ The AI seems to recognize that it has multiple orders, yet it keeps returning home rather than completing all of them in one go.)


    (Did you make it, so it remembers its orders?)


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what we just said.¡± She groaned in exasperation. ¡°It knows it has more than one order, and then returns home before going back out and completing it.¡±


    (Yeah, but sometimes you forget things without one of us-) (Me.) (-reminding you. So maybe it knows it¡¯s supposed to do something, but it¡¯s forgetting what it¡¯s supposed to do.)


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± She paused to consider the possibility. After all, even if it was her more childish self, the voice was still her, and she was completely brilliant. Ergo the voices in her head had to be just as brilliant, if in their own ways.


    Going back to her code, she went through the order subroutines and discovered, that while the AI counted how many orders it had, and then copied them before leaving the COMP, it could apparently only retain one set at a time.


    ¡°Meaning, it has to return to remember the next order¡­ Huh.¡± She sat back as she let that revelation wash over her, before coming to a far more important revelation about herself. ¡°I really am a complete and total genius.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Finished AI upgrade. AI can now follow up to 3 commands at a time.

 Turn 7

    Turn 7


    --- Maya ---


    Knowing that she¡¯d put a fair amount of work into her programs, she decided it was time for her to focus on some of her hardware, that way she could effectively use her programs when she needed them.


    Of course, if she was going to make a dedicated effort towards her less digital projects, this meant she was going to need a fair number of parts to actually build those projects.


    Hence another journey to the basement.


    What she hadn¡¯t expected was to find her usually laid-back elder brother cursing at an amp as it audibly hissed at him.


    ¡°Come on, damn it, work!¡±


    ¡°Uh, is everything alright?¡± She asked as he kicked the amp in frustration.


    ¡°Huh?¡± He turned to blink at her before shaking his head. ¡°Yeah, no, I¡­ My amp is acting up is all. Probably going to have to cancel band practice until I get this thing replaced. Which sucks since our battle of the bands thing is in a couple of weeks, and I already spent everything on replacing our other equipment.¡±


    (Right, that¡¯s what his bands been practicing for all summer¡­)


    She gave the amp a look, and felt her fingers twitch a bit, because while the whispers weren¡¯t really talking, she¡¯d still picked up a thing or two about working with electronics.


    ¡°If you want I can give it a look.¡± She eventually offered, ¡°I¡¯ve been getting into electronics and stuff lately, so maybe I can do something with it?¡±


    Tommy gave her a curious look. ¡°You sure My? You¡¯ve always been a little¡­ klutzy. If I¡¯m lucky it might be cheaper to get it fixed than having to replace the whole thing.¡±


    ¡°Just give me a chance, I can promise you a speaker is not the hardest thing I¡¯ve worked on this summer.¡± (That would be my COMP.)


    Tommy looked at her for a moment before shaking his head with a sigh. ¡°Fine, it¡¯s not like I¡¯ve got a lot to lose right now anyway.¡±


    ¡°?Muy bien!¡± She clapped her hands, before pointing her thumb at the stairs. ¡°I¡¯ll grab a couple of things from my room, and I¡¯ll have it fixed fast.¡±


    ¡°If you say so.¡± Tommy told her in that tone that said while he didn¡¯t believe her, he¡¯d let her try at the very least.


    (Bleh, we¡¯ll show him not to look down on us!)


    Rushing to her room she grabbed the usual tools she used for her projects -excluding the COMP and laptop she used to run her programs during the building phase of those projects- and quickly made her way back to the basement.


    From there it was quick work to undo the back of the amp and take a look inside, the faintest words coming from the whispers as they waited for something to catch their attention and spark them into life.


    ¡°So, uh, what exactly is the problem?¡± She asked, hoping if she knew she might be able to prod the whispering in the back of her head into helping.


    ¡°Whenever I turn it on it starts hissing, even if I don¡¯t have the guitar plugged in.¡± He explained.


    ¡°Uh-huh¡­¡± She nodded as she looked at the insides of the speaker, trying to figure out what might get the whispers interested in helping her. ¡°You mind plugging it in so I can try and see what¡¯s happening in here?¡± She tried as a method of stalling.


    (Okay, okay¡­ What do you guys want?) Gnawing on her cheek a bit, she let her eyes roam around the inside of the speaker, mentally marking everything that seemed important. (Hey, how much do you two think looking at this could help us with our sound tech?)


    (You mean the tech we haven¡¯t actually touched beyond manipulating sound vibrations?) Her inner reason reminded her.


    She was about to give her own snarky remark, but instead jumped as a loud sound came from the speaker in front of her. ¡°Shit that¡¯s loud!¡±


    ¡°You okay?¡± Tommy asked, watching the way she grimaced.


    ¡°Yeah, just¡­¡± She could feel her heart pounding, and as it did the whispers grew louder, directing her attention to a bunch of little tubes in the amp. ¡°Hey, you don¡¯t have any spare amp tubes do you?¡±


    Tommy blinked at her. ¡°Uh, no¡­¡±


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Frowning, she glanced around the basement. ¡°Do you have a different broken amp or something? I know how dad is about throwing things away.¡±


    ¡°You mean that he doesn¡¯t.¡± Tommy snorted, before shaking his head and gesturing to a corner of the basement. ¡°I think he throws all of my music crud over there. Why?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to Frankenstein this bitch.¡± She told him, moving to the corner and shifting through a pile of junk until she came across a broken amp of the same brand.


    ¡°Here¡¯s the coffin¡­¡± She said taking the back off of the broken amp as the whispers assuring her that the problem with this one was the speaker itself rather than the tubes. ¡°And here¡¯s our brain.¡±


    ¡°Okay, little morbid there¡­¡± Tommy commented, with a weirded-out look on his face.


    ¡°Maybe, but here¡¯s the part we need.¡± She showed him the tubes she¡¯d removed, ¡°Now I just need to fit them in your other amp, and that should fix it.¡±


    A few minutes later she had him turn the amp back on, and when no hissing came out of it, she replaced the back before plugging a guitar in and strumming a chord.


    While she had no idea if it was a good chord, there was at the very least no distortion to it, though she figured it was good enough given her brothers impressed face.


    ¡°?F¨ªjate!¡± Tommy exclaimed taking the guitar and giving it a test of his own. ¡°You actually got it working.¡±


    ¡°Told you I knew what I was doing.¡± She nodded.


    (See! We¡¯ll show them all!) Her inner crazy laughed until a giggle of her own escaped.


    ¡°Never doubt you again, hermanita.¡± Tommy promised, as he sat down and began testing a few more chords to see if the newly repaired amp could keep up.


    Looking away from the scene, she noticed a fair number of broken mics, amps, speakers, and other goodies she could still make use of. If for her own endeavors rather than Tommy¡¯s.


    ¡°Hey, you don¡¯t mind if I swipe some¡± (read: all) ¡°of this junk for my own thing do you?¡± She asked, already planning to do so even if he said no.


    ¡°Go ahead hermanita.¡± Tommy nodded, not bothering to look up from his now working equipment as he strummed a few chords and listened to the newly fixed amp play them back.


    (You know we can¡¯t actually fit all of this in our room right?) Her inner reason pointed out. (Especially once we start disassembling all of it.)


    Thinking about it, for a moment she turned back to her brother. ¡°You going to be okay if a make a few trips for this stuff?¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t even hear you.¡± Tommy admitted as he turned the amp a little higher.


    (See he has no problem with us coming back for this stuff later.) She told her more cautious self, as she picked up the broken amp from earlier and began carrying it up the stairs.


    Scene Consequences


    -Experience: Gained 1XP towards Electronics and decreased the costs of some Upgrades.


    -Grown a bit closer to Tommy.


    -Gathered (2D6 = 10) Electronics.


    ---


    Dropping the remains of the broken amp onto the floor of her room, she began considering the fact that while she could take it apart some with the few screwdrivers and soldering bits she¡¯d swiped from her dad¡¯s unused tool kits, it wasn¡¯t really all that efficient to do so.


    (Thinking about it I could probably use some better tools period¡­)


    (Unfortunately, we lack the funds to go buy them, even if we were willing to go outside.)


    (Speaking of, how much longer are we going to hide out for? I mean it¡¯s already been a week.)


    Sorting her thoughts as they pulled in two different directions, she shook her head before looking for the scrap metal she¡¯d found in the basement a few days prior.


    ¡°If we can¡¯t buy tools than, we¡¯ll just have to build them instead.¡± She told her voice of reason, as she began to gather a few small bits and pieces to run her programs through. ¡°And as for going outside¡­ Well, we have the Hand Cannon to defend our self, the AI to gather information and whatever else we need, and then we have the MAP () to give us a bit of warning too¡­¡±


    (Hmm, I suppose we don¡¯t really need much else then do we?)


    (Does that mean we¡¯re going out again?!) Her wilder half asked with glee.


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± She hedged, ¡°Give me a bit to think about it. Right now, we have work to do.¡±


    Getting back to the task at hand, she took what bits of the scrapped car part she could, and using some careful placed Heat, welded them together into what the whispers assured her was a working, if not actually good, shape.


    Sadly, since this was her first time working with anything bigger than a laptop circuit board, her first attempt was¡­


    (Crap scrap!) Her inner child laughed.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± She cursed, tossing the twisted metal aside.


    (Well, look on the bright side. We still have a few parts we can use to make something, and you now know what not to do.) Her inner reason offered in attempt at optimism.


    ¡°Right, right¡­¡± She agreed after a calming breath. ¡°Just give me a second.¡±


    Taking a bit of time to work through her frustration, she pulled out what little remained of her workable scrap metal and began working what she could to try and create something resembling a decent tool.


    And eventually she managed to succeed at this endeavor, creating tools better at soldering than her own, while also capable of working on metal. If at the cost of rendering portions of any metal she worked with unusable due to the need to roughly cut through said metal to work it.


    ¡°Mm, it¡¯s good enough for now, but we¡¯ll have to make something better eventually.¡± She told her other selves, as she tested the new tools out.


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya now has tools to work with.


    --Can work with Metal at a +1 cost penalty.*


    (*Note: Creating these tools was the exception to the metal work rule.)


    --All Hardware costs 1 less Electronic if necessary. (Cost cannot fall below 1)


    -New skill: [Metal Working] unlocked.

 Turn 8

    Turn 8


    --- Maya ---


    She groaned as she rolled out of bed, noticing that the sun was just breaking across the horizon, sunlight just beginning to push back the darkness of the night prior.


    (Why am I up at this unholy hour?)


    ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± A voice apologized from the other side of her room, where Izzy was getting dressed in sweatpants and a hoodie¡­ in July.


    ¡°Wha¡¯ ¡®s goin¡¯ on?¡± She asked, her voice slurring as she fought herself to full wakefulness.


    (No! I don¡¯t wanna get up!)


    ¡°I¡¯m just going for my morning run.¡±


    That woke her up.


    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re leaving? At this hour? In this neighborhood?!¡± She asked as she enter ¡®big sister¡¯ mode.


    Izzy merely rolled her eyes. ¡°Our neighborhood isn¡¯t that bad, and I¡¯m taking Missy with me.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re twelve!¡± She reminded her sister. ¡°Do mom and dad know you go running this early?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to make a thing about this aren¡¯t you.¡± Izzy asked, before eventually relenting under Maya¡¯s glare. ¡°I leave before dad gets up and he¡¯s usually at work by the time I get back, and I hop the back fence to make it look like I was working out in the backyard.¡±


    ¡°And how long have you been doing this?¡± She asked, knowing her sister was advanced for her age -all of the Williams children were- and hoping this was a recent development, rather than something reckless they¡¯d been missing for years.


    ¡°Most of the summer.¡± Izzy admitted with a shrug.


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± (That¡¯s not that bad.) ¡°And where exactly do you go on these runs?¡±


    ¡°Just around the neighborhood a few times.¡± Izzy assured her.


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± She nodded, already knowing she was going to regret this. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go with you.¡±


    Izzy just blinked. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I said, I¡¯ll go on your run with you.¡± She explained.


    ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea.¡± Izzy told her reluctantly.


    She couldn¡¯t help the way her eyes narrowed. ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°Uh, Maya¡­ you¡¯re kind of out of shape.¡± Izzy admitted with a grimace.


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not that-¡±


    ¡°And fat.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I should start my run early shouldn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    She spent the next hour, less running with her little sister, and more chasing after her with the intent to harm.


    Now under normal circumstances, she would have lasted nowhere near this long.


    Luckily, her superior brain was capable of a superhuman level of spite and vengeance, that allowed her to push through her burning muscles and aching lungs. Enough so that she was even able to climb over the various fences her sister had tried to jump over to escape her.


    (Actually, why the fuck is she this good at jumping fences?!)


    Scene Consequences


    -New Skill: [Mobility] discovered. (At a low level.) (What¡¯s that supposed to mean?!)


    -Grown a bit closer to Izzy and Missy.


    ---


    She collapsed on the couch, her every muscle aching after her attempt at retribution towards her little sister and proceeded to remain in this state for a good twenty minutes. At which point she managed to force herself to sit up, leaving her in the perfect position to spot Seamus drawing at the living room table.


    (Maybe my other baby sibling will be nice today.)


    ¡°What cha working on little man?¡± She asked as she walked over to the table.


    ¡°I¡¯m dwawing everyone!¡± Seamus told her, waving his unfinished drawing in the air.


    ¡°Oh, yeah?¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Her little brother nodded back excitedly.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°Well, who¡¯ve you drawn so far?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Mommy, daddy, and me.¡± He pointed at a figure in a red dress and long brown hair, and next to the woman was a tall man in a white shirt with a red tie. Between them was a small smiling figure.


    ¡°Here¡¯s Vivi and Tommy.¡± Next was a pair of tall figures one in a jacket with long brown hair, and the other with big green ears.


    (Must be Tommy¡¯s headphones.)


    ¡°That¡¯s Izzy there.¡± This was a small figure with a ponytail wearing a karate Gi.


    ¡°And here¡¯s you.¡± Seamus pointed to the last figure on the page, who was shorter than all but Izzy and Seamus, as well as being the¡­ roundest of the figures.


    (¡­)


    (We are not that fat!)


    Sure, she was a little pudgier than her siblings, but that was because she hadn¡¯t quite lost her baby fat. Something she was sure would be fixed just as soon as she had the growth spurt that would catch her up to the rest of her family. And even it didn¡¯t plenty of people like women with a little more meat to their bones than her borderline anorexic-


    (Okay, I¡¯m just going to cut off this line of lashing self-hate¡­)


    (I do not hate myself!)


    ¡°And I¡¯m not that fat.¡± She added towards Seamus.


    Seamus blinked at her confused. ¡°But you¡¯re bigger than everyone else. I can wrap my arms around mommy and Tommy and Izzy, but it would take like five of me to wrap them around you!¡±


    (Remember murdering children is wrong!)


    (How about child experimentation?) The whispers were giving some very interesting ideas on that front.


    (Yes! That is significantly worse in some ways!) Her inner reason desperately tried to remind her. (How about¡­ how about we show him how to draw us right?)


    She considered it for a moment, before deciding a bionic brother probably wasn¡¯t worth the lecture she¡¯d receive from her parents.


    ¡°Hey, Seamus, you mind if I sit down and draw with you?¡± She asked through a tight smile.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Seamus nodded happily. ¡°Here, you can borrow my cwayons!¡±


    (See he¡¯s too cute to kill.)


    (He¡¯d still be cute with laser eyes¡­)


    Scene Consequences:


    -New Skill: [Art] discovered.


    -Grown a bit closer to Seamus.


    ---


    ¡°If we¡¯re going to be going out, then we¡¯re going to need a couple upgrades for our defenses.¡± She told herself as she set her Hand Cannon on the table.


    (That seems like a reasonable compromise.) Her inner logic accepted.


    (I don¡¯t know it feels like you¡¯re kind of stall-)


    ¡°We need more dakka.¡± She interrupted calmly.


    (WE NEED MORE DAKKA!!!)


    (I don¡¯t whether that¡¯s impressive or disturbing¡­)


    ¡°I like to think of myself as disturbingly impressive.¡± She admitted, as she pulled out a number of bits and pieces she could repurpose into her Hand Cannon.


    (Fair.) Her inner reason accepted easily enough. (Now aside from distracting the idiot, what are we actually building?)


    ¡°I have two hands and one hand cannon.¡± She half-explained, as she began listening for the whispers. They weren¡¯t quite as loud or as vocal as the first time she¡¯d built a hand cannon, but they were filling in the gaps of what she couldn¡¯t remember doing at the very least.


    The real trick was figuring out how to transfer energy from her COMP to her new Hand Cannon, before she¡¯d had a handful of wires managing the transfer. Now, since she didn¡¯t think covering herself in unprotected wiring was a good idea -(Glad I didn¡¯t have to point that out.)- she instead was using a variation of wi-fi to transfer the energy wirelessly between her COMP and her cannons.


    Sure, she still had to wait for the minute reload between shots, but now she¡¯d have a back-up shot if she was busy reloading, and that was to say nothing of if one of her arms was pinned in a fight.


    (Yeah! We¡¯ve got Dakka-Dakka now baby!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Hand Cannon (Mk. 1) Upgraded to Hand Cannons (Mk. 1.1)


    --There is now one Hand Cannon for each hand. (All upgrades to the Hand Cannons apply to both, unless otherwise stated.)


    ---


    Running a few tests on her COMP to make sure her MAP () was working properly for her return to the outside world, she came to a rather important conclusion.


    ¡°This is giving me a crick in the neck.¡± She groaned rubbing at said crick.


    (Maybe if we had something to project the COMP¡¯s information for us?)


    (Ooh, like a game UI!)


    ¡°Huh, that¡¯s not a bad idea.¡± She admitted, pushing to see if the whispers had any ideas, before shaking her head. ¡°But it looks like I don¡¯t have much I can make in that direction¡­¡±


    (Boo!) Her inner child whined. (What about a VR headset? We can run the COMP screen through that can¡¯t we?)


    She considered it for a moment, because admittedly she¡¯d been wanting one for a while. But at the same time she¡¯d always thought those VR consoles were more gimmick than game as they were. With only the super expensive VR rooms being worth anything, and even then only the ones made by M.A.D.s were supposedly worth the price of a sold kidney.


    (Wait¡­ we¡¯re an M.A.D¡­ Doesn¡¯t that mean we can make our own?)


    She froze as she realized she was completely right.


    ¡°Brain, add that to the to-do list for our future lair.¡± She told herself.


    (And¡­ Done.)


    Still regardless of her future plans, she didn¡¯t have a VR headset she could use to sync with her COMP. ¡°Guess that just means I¡¯m going to have to make one myself!¡±


    Looking around her room she started picking up a number of parts that her whispers were declaring as useful, including a pair of sunglasses and the mic-less gaming headset her parents had gotten her because she was too loud with an actual mic.


    (It¡¯s not our fault we get teamed with basement dwelling scrubs and squeakers¡­)


    Shaking her head, she removed she began taking the headset apart as she set her COMP to begin running her Alchemy () program.


    On its own the Alchemy () program wasn¡¯t particularly powerful as it was, the most it allowed for was the softening of some materials -namely plastics- by method of spreading a light heat across an object. This in turn allowed her to mold the plastic with her hands as if it were a particularly rough clay, though she could only handle touching it for a few minutes at a time before needing to drop the too hot substance and let it cool.


    What this meant was that with a bit of effort she was able to use a few bits of recycled plastic, to connect her headset and her sunglasses, while rigging the glasses to work as a makeshift screen to show whatever information the COMP was showing off. Be it her MAP (), or the ammo and reload times of her Hand Cannons.


    By the time she¡¯d finished, the whole thing looked like ring around her head, with the headphone speakers bulging out from where her ears would go.


    Scene Consequences


    -Hardware Crit Used: Cost reduced by 2 Plastic and 1 Electronic.


    -New Hardware: Headset built.


    --This allows you to view simpler programs without having to access the COMP.


    --This item reduces chances of being recognized from afar by a small amount.


    -New Program: UI Management ()


    --This program allows the Headset to have easy access to monitor other programs and hardware.


    -New Upgrades available.

 Turn 9

    Turn 9


    --- Maya ---


    (Why am I subjecting myself to this?) She couldn¡¯t help but wonder.


    (Because you¡¯re a good big sister?)


    (Fuck being a good big sister, do feel the way our lungs are burning?!)


    She did, hence why she slowed down to a stop, painfully gasping for air.


    ¡°You okay?¡± Izzy asked, having run back for her after realizing she wasn¡¯t following anymore.


    ¡°Just¡­ dying.¡± She admitted, with a look to her perfectly steady younger sister. ¡°Which, you know¡­ Is what we¡¯re all doing every day when you think about it¡­¡±


    Izzy just stared at her for a moment, before shaking her head. ¡°Is your head always that messed up?¡±


    ¡°You know it hermanita!¡± She told her with a cheerful thumbs up.


    That was about as much talking as she could manage, as she spent the next few minutes desperately trying to take as much air into her lungs as she could.


    ¡°You¡¯re breathing wrong.¡± Izzy eventually commented.


    ¡°What?¡± She gasped.


    ¡°You need to breathe through your nose and mouth.¡± Izzy explained.


    ¡°I- What?¡± She repeated.


    Izzy rolled her eye before beginning to audibly breathe. ¡°Try breathing in through the nose, and out through the mouth.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s supposed to help?¡± She asked.


    ¡°It improves your oxygen intake, which¡­ does a bunch of stuff for your biology?¡± The twelve-year-old offered a little unsurely before shrugging. ¡°Okay, I don¡¯t really know, I looked it up on this runner¡¯s site and I think it helps.¡±


    She watched her younger sister for a moment before nodding. ¡°Alright, if you say it¡¯ll help, then¡­ it¡¯ll help. Hopefully¡­¡±


    Izzy smiled and nodded back. ¡°Ready for round two then?¡±


    She moaned in despair. ¡°No¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences:


    -Thanks to Izzy¡¯s help gained 4XP to Mobility.


    -Skill Level Up: Mobility: Lv. 2 (2/6)


    ---


    ¡°Alright, so if we¡¯re going to be fighting against other Masks than we should probably figure out what kind of powers other Deviants are packing.¡±


    (Please tell me we aren¡¯t trying to hack Sanctuary again¡­) Her inner survival instincts begged.


    ¡°What? No, we¡¯re just hacking the police today.¡± She assured herself in a way that did nothing to reassure her. ¡°And maybe the hero¡¯s guild.¡±


    (Why?!)


    (Because we need information, duh.)


    (But do we really need to get it by hacking the government?!)


    ¡°No, we don¡¯t.¡± She admitted a little surprised. ¡°Apparently, Sanctuary and the Hero¡¯s Guild both give out free pamphlets¡­ though some of the Sanctuary one¡¯s look a little racist against Slashers, Deadmen and the Malcontent¡­¡±


    (Well they are the people eaters.)


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s a myth.¡±


    In actuality it was not a myth, at least in the cases of Deadmen. Something she found out only after clicking accidently clicking a video that wouldn¡¯t have been out of place in a Romero flick, if it wasn¡¯t for all of the glowing green blood coming from the zombies. Or the zombies walking through walls and turning invisible and shooting beams of energy¡­


    (Told you so!)


    ¡°Okay, so Deadmen are basically ghost zombies!¡± She declared closing out any more tabs related to that after seeing a man have his throat ripped out.


    (I feel we aren¡¯t going to sleep for a few weeks.)


    (Ooh! I call dibs on first traumatic nightmares!)


    ¡°Alright, um, why don¡¯t we just check out the Deviancies in the local gangs and heroes?¡± She asked, completely unwilling to check the validity of the rumors revolving around Slashers and the Malcontent. Especially since the former was literally named after a type of horror film.


    (Mm, the Covenant is largely made of Arcane correct?)


    ¡°Yeah, so¡­¡± She moved through a few pages before pulling up the webpage for the Arcane Association of America¡¯s college page, the American base of the most well known Arcane group in the world.


    (Huh, this is a surprisingly good college even if we don¡¯t practice magic.) Her inner logic realized with some surprise.


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°It kind of is¡­¡± She admitted with her own surprise, before frowning. ¡°Too bad it¡¯s also like a twelve-hour drive from home¡­¡±


    She wasn¡¯t willing to go that far from her family, even if it was a good school.


    (Uh, weren¡¯t we supposed to be looking up magic dakka? Or is that the WAAAGH?!)


    Shaking her head at her wilder self¡¯s yelling, she moved through the site until she found an overview on the basics of Arcane for newer magic users.


    From what she could gather, each Arcane had a set of ¡®affinities¡¯ based on their psychology and the events they¡¯d been through in their life. These affinities represented the different things that said Arcane was capable of manipulating with their magic, with stronger affinities representing greater power with a given attribute.


    ¡°Meaning it¡¯s luck of the draw on what kind of powers each Arcane has¡­¡±


    (And which powers we have to deal with.)


    Sighing she moved through a few other pages, trying to find the part of magic that made her willing to accept it as an esoteric field of study, even if she despised the LARPers responsible for naming it ¡®magic¡¯.


    Eventually she found what she was looking for in a page explaining the difference between the Arcane and Practitioners. While the former was born with a well of power they could draw on, the later studied the way magic interacted with the world around them to figure out the ¡®rules¡¯ behind magic, revealing it as more of an esoteric field of science and engineering than actual magical bullshit.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing this is the non-M.A.D. version of my hacking¡­ just a lot less controlled, defined, understood, and inferior in general to what I¡¯m doing.¡±


    (Sounds about right.)


    Deciding that meant, she had a decent enough understanding of what the Covenant could throw at her, namely bootlegged versions of her own future projects held together by duct tape and prayers.


    (Wait, isn¡¯t that what we¡¯re doing right now¡­) Her inner simpleton pointed out.


    ¡°No, I understand exactly what I¡¯m doing.¡± She disagreed.


    (Or the whispers do anyway.)


    ¡°And the whispers are me, so there¡¯s no difference there.¡± She reminded herself. ¡°Besides I¡¯d rather have better control and variety than the misunderstood power these guys are throwing around.¡±


    (Don¡¯t forget we still need to look up Wonderlanders.)


    ¡°Oh, right!¡± This one she¡¯d actually kept open the web pamphlets Sanctuary and the hero¡¯s guild had on their sites. ¡°Though for some reason these seemed more oriented towards family rather than actual Wonderlanders themselves.¡±


    The reason for this was that most Wonderlanders suffered from a disconnection to reality, often rejecting it as it is, and literally projecting their own reality onto the world around them.


    ¡°Wait. How the fuck do they do that?¡±


    (Mm, it looks like Wonderlanders have a personal pocket dimension, -which they commonly call their wonderland- that¡¯s based on their psyche. They also seem to have the ability to drag pieces of that dimension into reality, allowing them to slowly submit the world around them to their own.)


    (But how does that tie into the Poser¡¯s Guild gaining powers?)


    ¡°Um, maybe they¡¯re slowly getting dragged deeper and deeper into the Wonderlander¡¯s dimension¡­ In which case, eventually they¡¯d be unable to leave it at all.¡±


    (That¡¯s an unpleasant thought. Is there anything on how to combat them?)


    She read through everything the pamphlets had before shaking her head. ¡°No, this just says family of Wonderlanders should try and help them find anchors to reality, to keep them from losing control to their ¡®wonderland.¡¯¡±


    (Which is likely too late, given how widely the Gamer¡¯s Guild¡¯s influence has spread.)


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Sighing, since there wasn¡¯t much else she could do on this front, she closed out all of the pages dedicated to Wonderlanders, before leaning back in her chair.


    ¡°So, what Deviancies does that leave?¡±


    (Well, if we want to avoid any more nightmares¡­ That leaves psychics and M.A.D.s.)


    ¡°Uh-huh, and everyone knows what a psychic is. Telepathy, precognition, and moving shit with their mind.¡± She listed. ¡°Honestly, the only major threat there is if they¡¯re a strong enough telepath to start mind controlling people.¡±


    (Mm-hmm, and what about M.A.D.s then?)


    (We already know how awesome they are!)


    ¡°The whispers, the four specialties, being able to make punks, and being able to build things from the other specialties if a fair bit weaker than an actual specialist.¡± She nodded. ¡°Which doesn¡¯t matter since we got the coolest of the specialties.¡±


    (Because we are the coolest!)


    ¡°Damn straight.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya is more aware of just what Deviants are capable of, and believes she understands how they work.


    -New Upgrades available.


    ---


    ¡°Well, we know about the gangs and the kind of Deviants they¡¯ve probably got on call, but we don¡¯t really know anything about where they each hang out.¡± She told her inner selves as she began writing out a new program. ¡°If we¡¯re going to be doing this whole hero thing we really should know where all of the bad guys are.¡±


    (And the places to avoid until we¡¯re ready.) Her inner survival instincts agreed.


    (Boo! I just want to know where the assholes I can zap are!) Her inner passion whined.


    ¡°It¡¯ll do that too.¡± She promised, going through her files as she began to piece together a program that would passively filter through the police department¡¯s records while avoiding any security programs.


    Admittedly given her tendency to hack into the police department every single time she was in need of information, this was significantly easier for her than it would be for most.


    ¡°What¡¯s more, since I¡¯ll have a permanent backdoor into their system I¡¯ll be able to go through their stuff whenever I want, rather than having to hack back in every time.¡±


    (We probably should¡¯ve done this sooner all things considered.)


    (What?! No! We shouldn¡¯t be trying to annoy the law at all!)


    She blew a raspberry. ¡°I¡¯ve fought the law and I won.¡±


    (Hacking their systems does not count as fighting them!) Her inner logic warned. (What¡¯s more we should avoid doing so if we want to remain heroes!)


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°Fine, I won¡¯t go pissing off the cops, but I¡¯m keeping the backdoor, in case we need to investigate future criminals and stuff.¡±


    (Fine¡­) Her inner reason eventually conceded.


    Getting back to work, she continued working on her program for the rest of the day.


    By itself the program would allow her to know whatever the police knew about the gang¡¯s various activities, as well as any ongoing investigations, and nearby crime alerts. When combined with her MAP () program however this meant she had a city-wide crime map, actively keeping track of everything going on in the city that the police knew about.


    And not just what one department knew either, but rather what all of the police in the city knew. Arguably making her own map superior to anything they had solely due to the lack of jurisdictional impediment, and inter-department dick measuring.


    Scene Consequences


    -New Program: [Info Network ()] unlocked.


    --This program allows you to access police records on any nearby threats or targets. (If an action location has a notable threat level, it will now be marked as such.)


    -Program Synergy: Due to synergy, MAP () now passively alerts us to nearby crime, and the threat level of the area we are in.


    -New Upgrades available.

 Turn 10

    Turn 10


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Why am I torturing myself like this?¡± She groaned, forcing herself to keep pace with her sister.


    (Again, I think it something to do with your big sister instincts.)


    (And again, fuck those instincts!)


    ¡°You okay there, sis?¡± Izzy asked with a concerned look.


    ¡°Yeah, just¡­ hearing things.¡± She laughed, unable to think of anything else to say.


    ¡°Uh, okay¡­¡± Izzy nodded, with a weirded out look on her face.


    ¡°Just¡­ just ignore me.¡± She eventually sighed.


    ¡°Right¡­ Um, you¡¯re breathing ¡®s a lot better today.¡± Izzy told her in effort to change topics.


    ¡°Yeah, I think I¡¯m starting to get the hang of this running thing.¡± She agreed, though what improvements she¡¯d made did little to help with her physical condition.


    ¡°Kind of surprised you¡¯re getting it this fast.¡± Izzy admitted, as she started moving again.


    (Great¡­ more running¡­)


    Shaking her head, she started chasing after her sister once more. ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°It took a few weeks to get my breathing right, and it took you a few days¡­¡± Izzy shook her own head. ¡°I¡¯m kind of jealous.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well¡­ you¡¯re twelve.¡± She reminded. ¡°You¡¯re a bit young to be putting yourself through this kind of workout everyday.¡±


    Izzy rolled her eyes before sighing. ¡°Maybe, but I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s just in the land of the couch potatoes.¡±


    She snorted at that, because she couldn¡¯t bring herself to disagree.


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to Izzy¡¯s help gained 4XP to Mobility


    -Skill Level Up: Mobility Lv. 3 (0/8)


    ---


    Once she was sure Izzy had returned home, she turned around and started making her way towards the nearby city bus stop.


    After a week and a half without any trouble -plus the note from her crime map that her neighborhood and the path to her destination were more or less safe- She was finally willing to leave the house once more and get to work on her more heroic efforts.


    Of course, due to her own lack of transportation, and a desire for a certain level of anonymity with her family, this meant she was stuck waiting on city bus to take her to her destination.


    (Alright let¡¯s see we have¡­) She glanced between her phone and the bus schedule. (forty-five minutes until our bus gets here¡­)


    (Well, at least we get a break of sorts.)


    Less than ten minutes later though, her impatience began to get to her as a somewhat bad idea began to form in her head.


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    (You know if we run to the next couple of stops, I bet we¡¯ll make it just in time for the bus to arrive when we get there.)


    (This seems unwise¡­)


    She glanced at the time on her phone, and the time on the bus schedule before shaking her head. ¡°Ah, fuck it. I need to figure out how to get places as a hero anyway.¡±


    With that sentiment in mind, she turned in the direction of the next bus stop and began running. Her legs screaming for mercy the entire time.


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1XP to Mobility. (Current XP: (1/8))


    ---


    If she was going to continue down the path of a Mask than she was going to need a base of operations. Normally, the place she¡¯d been using for her testing grounds would¡¯ve proven to be enough to suit her needs.


    Unfortunately, after her kidnapping she felt the testing grounds she¡¯d been using were a little too compromised for her tastes and in turn wasn¡¯t willing to risk returning to them. And as such set out to try and find a new location to orchestrate her war on crime.


    This was why Maya was making her way through the woods, in the hopes of finding a space she could use for her new base.


    By some kind of luck their town still had a fairly large forest to the south west, with most urban expansions taking themselves more to the north side of town. This meant that once you got past a few rundown suburbs; you¡¯d find a fair amount of preserved nature.


    At least if you spent half an hour on the bus, and another half hour walking of course.


    Even after traveling that far she still spent the better part of another hour wandering through the forest, and while she wasn¡¯t winded by the end, it didn¡¯t do her aching muscles any favors. Eventually, stumbling upon a small clearing next to a creek she took her shoes off and dipped her feet in the cool water.


    ¡°Ugh, my feet are killing me¡­¡±


    (Well, maybe you shouldn¡¯t have gone on that extra run today.) Her logic chided her.


    ¡°Fuck off.¡± She flipped herself off, a rather odd thing to do given the way she had to angle her hands at herself.


    Shaking her head, she let herself fall onto her back. ¡°Ugh, everything hurts¡­¡±


    Her eyes drifted around the clearing as she laid there taking in the quiet nature of everything. (Huh, it¡¯s kind of peaceful out here¡­ Too bad there¡¯s no cell reception.)


    (Well, on the plus most people won¡¯t bother looking this deep into woods.) Her inner reason pointed out. (Meaning our base will be fairly well hidden if we build it out here.)


    (Yeah, we can build a nice little cabin in the woods to conduct all of our chaotic catastrophes!)


    She paused at that, before shaking her head at her inner crazy¡¯s bout of creative insanity.


    ¡°It is out of the way, but there¡¯s not much I can do here either.¡± She reminded her other selves. ¡°I mean all of our inventions revolve around coding or machinery. There¡¯s not too much we can do out here in the middle of the woods.¡±


    (That¡¯s not entirely true.)


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She asked


    (Well, while we specialize in our Coding that doesn¡¯t necessarily change the fact that we can work with more¡­ organic materials. Which this space has an abundance of, if a little limited in variety.)


    She glanced around, probing the whispers a bit to see if they did have any ideas. At first they gave her very little that she could actually understand, but after a bit of time they began to give her a few ideas that while taking some time to prepare¡­


    (Sound kind of interesting¡­)


    (Oh, we are going to piss god off so much! Heh-heh-heh-ha!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya is curious about more¡­ organic orchestrations.


    ---


    By the time she made it back home she was too tired to deal with much of anything, and as such decided to throw herself into another project, another effort supported by the whispers¡¯ secrets and comforts.


    Once more she directed this energy into her COMP focusing on pushing its energy capacity to the next level. And while the amount of power storage she was able to add to her Device didn¡¯t seem like much at just a thirty-three percent gain, it was still the minimum growth established by her previous upgrade.


    Unfortunately, at the rate she was going she was going she could fit maybe one more upgrade into the circuitry of her COMP before she was going to start needing other solutions to her power issues.


    (Still, this is better than nothing at the very least.)


    Scene Consequences


    -COMP power supply increased by 5. (Current Max Power: 20 units)

 Turn 11

    Turn 11


    --- Maya ---


    She groaned as she rolled out of bed, her body still hurting from pushing herself to get used to Izzy¡¯s morning runs.


    ¡°You okay?¡± Izzy asked giving her a concerned look.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, just¡­ taking a minute to wake up.¡± She told her little sister as she forced herself to her feet, barely wincing as she did so.


    Izzy frowned at her, before pushing her chest, and sending her toppling back onto her bed.


    ¡°What was that for?¡± She growled.


    ¡°You¡¯re exhausted.¡± Izzy told her bluntly.


    She gestured to the alarm between their beds. ¡°It¡¯s like six a.m. of course I¡¯m exhausted!¡±


    (We really shouldn¡¯t have stayed up so late working on our COMP.)


    Izzy watched her for another moment before shaking her head. ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re not running with me today.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help the way her eyes narrowed. ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°Like I said, you¡¯re exhausted. I don¡¯t mind you running with me, but if you keep pushing yourself like this you¡¯re going to hurt yourself.¡± Her twelve year old sister told her.


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°A little exercise isn¡¯t going to kill me.¡±


    ¡°No, but if you don¡¯t give your body a chance to rest you could strain a muscle or something.¡± Izzy argued.


    She frowned. ¡°Maybe, but someone has got to keep you safe in the mornings!¡±


    ¡°Maya, we both know I can kick your butt any day of the week.¡±


    (Not if we brought out our Hand Cannons.)


    (No, no zapping our siblings!)


    (Just a little zapping, it¡¯ll be like a static shock! With real lightning.)


    (No.)


    ¡°Look, Maya, I get that you want to be the good big sister and all, but you need to take care of yourself.¡± Izzy told her, pressing on Maya¡¯s shoulder to force her to lay back down.


    ¡°Mmm, I¡¯m the big sister I¡¯m supposed to be taking care of you.¡± She whined, already feeling slumber¡¯s sweet siren song.


    Izzy rolled her eyes, though she did wear a fond smile. ¡°Fine. Then, I don¡¯t know¡­ help me with my homework when school starts up again.¡±


    She glared sleepily at her little sister before giving one last huff. ¡°Fine¡­ but I¡¯m getting you an A+ if it kills you when I do!¡±


    Izzy snorted. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t expect anything less.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya will be more aware of her own exhaustion.


    --Exhaustion triggers when a character preforms too many training actions over too short a period of time. In this case, Maya has preformed 4 PT actions in the last three days, which means she became exhausted yesterday, and will suffer a penalty against all Physical Activities until she goes an entire day without any physical activities. (PT, Fights, and Scenes revolving around physical activity.)


    --Note: Training comes in two flavors Physical and Mental depending on what the skill being trained stresses more, the mind or the body. Training of one type does not affect the Exhaustion rate of the other.


    -Training canceled, and Action Point spent on an alternative activity.


    -Grown a bit closer to Izzy.


    ---


    ¡°Having a late start, hon?¡± Her father asked as she stumbled down the stairs, having finally woken up after Izzy had sent her back to sleep.


    Henry Williams was a tall man with brown hair and blue eyes, who had a tendency to wear white button up shirts even on the days he wasn¡¯t working. And if you discounted his glasses, he looked like a thinner and taller version of Tommy, or rather Tommy looked like a shorter more filled out version of him, depending on which one you met first.


    ¡°Mm-hmm.¡± She nodded to her father¡¯s question, her feelings still a little mixed in regards to her parents due to the fact they, (didn¡¯t realize we were fucking kidnapped!)


    She forced herself to ignore the voice screaming in her head and glanced around the living room. ¡°Mom¡¯s not here?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s taking Seamus out to some pre-pre-school playdate¡­ thing.¡± Her father explained. ¡°Why did you need her for something?¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯ve just been so caught up with this project I¡¯m working on that I haven¡¯t really seen too much of you two the last week or so.¡± She explained with a half-truth.


    Her father grimaced, always feeling bad whenever he or his wife accidentally neglected one of their kids. ¡°Ah, sorry about that¡­ It¡¯s just we¡¯ve been busy with work, Seamus, and Izzy¡¯s summer tournament thing, and then there¡¯s Tommy¡¯s gigs and-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± She cut her father off as gently as she could, knowing full well she¡¯d tell him to prioritize her siblings over her, if she was given the option. ¡°Like I said I¡¯ve been caught up in my own thing. So, I haven¡¯t really noticed.¡± (Besides, I¡¯m the one who¡¯s been avoiding you.)


    ¡°Really, well, what are you working on?¡± Her father asked, eager to show interest in one of his kids¡¯ lives.


    ¡°Oh, uh, I¡¯m working on-¡± (hacking reality) ¡°putting together my own computer.¡± She told him with another half-truth.


    ¡°Is your old one not working?¡± Her father asked with concern. ¡°It might take a bit, but I¡¯m sure me and your mother can work up the money to get you a new one for your birthday.¡±


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°What? No!¡± She shook her head. ¡°My laptop works perfectly fine.¡± (More so since I upgraded it.) ¡°I just figured it¡¯d be cool to try and put together my own from all of the broken ones we have in the basement. You know turn them into a sort of Frankenstein¡¯s computer, or something.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well that¡¯s good.¡± Her dad looked a little relieved, knowing their already tight budget wasn¡¯t going to be stretched any thinner.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s actually why I was heading out.¡± She outright lied. (Quiet you!) ¡°I needed to get a couple of things that I couldn¡¯t just work out on my own.¡±


    ¡°I see, well do need any money?¡± Her father asked, pulling out his wallet.


    ¡°No, I¡¯ve got it covered.¡± She waved him off.


    Her dad gave her a look, before pulling a twenty from his wallet. ¡°Actually, that reminds me. I guess, since you were so busy working on your little project, you forgot to pick up your allowance.¡±


    ¡°You, uh, you don¡¯t have to do that.¡± She told him, not feeling right taking money, when she knew they were just paying the bills for everything as is.


    Her dad smiled at her. ¡°Honey, the other kids all got their allowance. It¡¯s only fair that you get yours too.¡±


    Part of her wanted to put up a bigger fight, but at the same time she knew she wouldn¡¯t really get anywhere if she didn¡¯t accept the money, and she still had places to scout if she ever wanted to get her base set up.


    ¡°Fine.¡± She eventually caved in, accepting the money, before giving her dad a hug. ¡°Like I said, I¡¯ve got that thing to do, but I should be back by dinner time.¡± She told him, only the second half of that statement being true.


    ¡°Alright, honey, have fun.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡± She promised.


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya has gained $20 as her allowance.


    -Grown a bit closer to the parents.


    ---


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m not having fun.¡± She told the voices in her head as she made her way through the abandoned Beacon hospital, seriously rethinking her life choices with this place.


    Prior to the reveal of Deviants to the world, it had been a fairly well built and popular hospital for all of the town¡¯s residents. At least until a Deviant doctor went psycho-slasher, killing and possessing the hospital staff and having them kill a fair number of the patients. Leaving the hospital to be abandoned as no one wanted to step foot in a building with a body count that high.


    ¡°Did you really have to remind me of all of that?¡± She asked, her desperation for a new base the only reason she was stepping foot here. ¡°I mean, the place already looks like some psycho is going to jump out and stab me without the horror history lesson.¡±


    (On the bright side, the police did a lovely job of cleaning up all of the blood.)


    (That and the only real risk of discovery here is if some teenagers give each other a stupid dare.)


    ¡°Which given all of the graffiti on the walls¡­ Is somewhat likely¡­¡±


    (True, but the hospital is large enough that it shouldn¡¯t be too hard to find an out of the way place to set up shop.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    ¡°I guess so¡­¡± She sighed, before continuing through the ominously quiet and decrepit halls of-


    (You¡¯re not helping.)


    (Sorry.)


    Continuing through the hospital halls, she found a number of vandalized rooms across the first floor. Though as luck would have it the second floor was actually fairly untouched compared to the rest of the hospital she¡¯d seen.


    (Guess most people visit the basement first.)


    ¡°Sounds about right.¡± She admitted, before noticing a red box covered in dust sitting in one of the abandoned rooms. ¡°Oh, what do we have here?¡±


    (Looks like an old first aid kit.)


    ¡°Think it¡¯s still good?¡± She asked, popping the lid open. ¡°I mean a first aid kit, is on the list of things we need to get if we¡¯re going to be a mask.¡±


    (With a bit of maintenance perhaps we could use it, though we might be better off flat out replacing it.) Her inner logic warned, before continuing as something else occurred to her. (Actually, speaking of, aren¡¯t a lot of doctors M.A.D.s?)


    ¡°Now that you mention it, some of the more famous ones are.¡± She agreed, thinking of a number of medical advancements that had been made by M.A.D.s in one fashion or another.


    (Ooh, and the infamous ones are the guys who make all the Deathpunks!)


    She shivered as she was reminded about the stitched together ragdolls she¡¯d seen when first researching M.A.D.s ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯d rather not have anything in common with those patch-workers.¡±


    (Even if we don¡¯t take things that far, it still might be a good idea to investigate just what kind of medical advancements we could contribute.)


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± She hedged, before jumping as a rat skittered by. ¡°But uh, let¡¯s get out of here before we consider that.¡±


    (Agreed.)


    (Wussies.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Found a first Aid Kit.


    -Maya has developed a curiosity to more medical maladies.


    ---


    ¡°Damn it¡­¡± She cursed. ¡°I can¡¯t find anything.¡±


    (Too be fair, we¡¯ve already salvaged a number of computers, game systems, cell phones, and musical equipment.) Her inner reason listed, before continuing in a grim tone. (And that¡¯s not including everything we swiped for our COMP before that.)


    ¡°Gah! This still sucks!¡±


    (Look there¡¯s a couple of old house phones over there!) Her inner logic pointed out helpfully.


    She looked around before spotting what her inner self was talking about and grimacing because of it.


    (Dios mio, those things are so old they still have chords!)


    (Look it¡¯s better than nothing, so suck it up buttercup.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (D6=2) Electronics.


    ---


    Taking her haul back upstairs with her, she threw everything onto her desk and got to work on another upgrade for her hand cannons.


    Right now, her primary offense was unleashing a burst of electricity, and while this would be enough to drop most regular people, odds were she was going to need more than two shots if she ran into any real trouble.


    And so, with this problem in mind she got to work on an upgrade that would allow her to release her blasts in segmented bursts rather than all at once like she was now.


    The trick to this was to create a series of limiters that would pull off the power past a certain threshold and send it back into the battery. While this did lower how much power her Cannons could fire at a time, it actually did her a favor by bringing it into a range less likely to cause permanent damage to her non-powered targets.


    ¡°Which is good, because I cannot afford a lawsuit.¡±


    (Meh, that¡¯s the point of the mask, to help us avoid the po-po!)


    (Yes, but we should still maintain a certain level or accountability, and not crippling people is a fairly decent place to start.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    (Pfft, we¡¯d only cripple the bad guys.)


    (Yes, but what constitutes a bad-)


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re not having this conversation.¡± She told the angel and demon on her shoulders. ¡°Right not we¡¯re testing out our Cannons new ammo circuit.¡±


    (Ooh, combo dakka!)


    After making sure no one else was on the second floor, she gripped the reload triggers on her Hand Cannons waiting for the minute it took each one to reload, during which she listened to the satisfying humming sound effect she¡¯d based on the PS1¡¯s start up sound.


    (There really hasn¡¯t been a greater console intro since.)


    As the final chime of the sound effect went off, she struck her fist out sending a burst of electricity crackling through the air. Smiling at the crackle of electricity and the two LEDs still glowing on her Hand Cannons, she followed this blow up with another charge punch and another and another, until she¡¯d drained all six shots of power in her cannons.


    (Hyper! Ultra! Combo!)


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m going to have so much fun with these things.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    - Hand Cannons (Mk. 1.2) can now hold 3 charges per reload.


    -New Upgrades available.


    -Gained 1XP to Fighting (Current XP: (3/4))

 Turn 12

    Turn 12


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do this!¡± She cried having a manic episode.


    ¡°Uh, My?¡± Izzy prompted. ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s get running!¡± She declared, jumping onto her bed and striking a pose.


    ¡°Do uh, do I need to get mom?¡± Her sister asked, trying to subtly inch her way out of the room.


    ¡°No!¡± She zipped across the room and wrapped an arm around Izzy¡¯s shoulders. ¡°I¡¯ve taken a day off from running with you, so it¡¯s time to run some more!¡±


    ¡°Um, sis, it takes more than one day to heal after straining yourself.¡± Izzy pointed out.


    She scoffed dragging Izzy out of their room. ¡°Pfft, for scrubs maybe.¡±


    ¡°No, for people in general.¡± Izzy argued, already knowing it was futile to resist when Maya was having an ¡®episode¡¯ as it were.


    ¡°Eh, no pain, no gain.¡± She shrugged.


    ¡°Again, not how that works.¡± Izzy stated plainly, as Maya dragged them both outside.


    ¡°You going to run, or do I have to kick your butt into gear, hermanita?¡± She asked hopping foot to foot.


    Izzy sighed. ¡°Maya-¡± Izzy stumbled before her eyes jumped to Maya. ¡°Did you just¡­?¡±


    ¡°Kick your butt into gear? Yes.¡± She admitted, hopping off the front steps of their house. ¡°You going to do something about it?¡±


    Izzy growled for a moment, before lunging at her.


    Of course, having expected this, she merely took off in the usual direction of all of their runs. As it would happen however, Izzy had apparently been holding back in her previous runs with Maya, because it didn¡¯t even take the pre-teen an entire lap around the block before she¡¯d caught up to Maya sending the two of them tumbling across someone¡¯s front yard.


    Since they were already on the ground she decided that if Izzy didn¡¯t want to do their usual running, maybe she¡¯d be up for wrestling instead.


    (You know having said that, I feel like we should probably intervene.)


    (But we¡¯re winning!)


    (Only because Izzy hasn¡¯t gotten proper footing on the ground.)


    (But we¡¯re winning right now and that¡¯s what counts!)


    This comment of course jinxed Maya, giving Izzy the perfect opportunity to break out of her sister¡¯s grip and send a blow into her stomach.


    ¡°Oww!¡± Maya groaned clutching her stomach.


    ¡°You finally calm down?¡± Izzy asked, watching her warily.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± She nodded, still rubbing her stomach as she sat on the grass. ¡°Yeah, I think I burned out whatever energy I had going for me.¡±


    ¡°Good, because I don¡¯t think I could take much more manic Maya.¡± Izzy admitted, as she took a seat on the grass as well.


    She grimaced. ¡°Yeah, sorry about that¡­ I haven¡¯t really had an episode in a while,¡± -(not since I started inventing anyway,)- ¡°and I wasn¡¯t expecting to get like that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well if that¡¯s what one day without moving does to you, I don¡¯t want to know what whole week will do.¡± Izzy told her with wry chuckle.


    ¡°So that means?¡±


    Izzy rolled her eyes. ¡°If you want to keep training with me you can.¡± Suddenly her eyes hardened. ¡°But if I think for one second you¡¯re going to hurt yourself pushing so hard, I won¡¯t hesitate to handcuff you to your bed.¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    She couldn¡¯t help but snort at that. ¡°And where are you going to get a pair of handcuffs.¡±


    ¡°I found a pair in mom and dad¡¯s room.¡± Izzy admitted, not realizing the implications.


    Unfortunately, Maya -pervert that she is- completely understood, and probably threw a few more conclusions on top of it.


    ¡°Eww.¡± She cringed. ¡°I don¡¯t want to think about that stuff!¡±


    (Neither do I but I¡¯m stuck in here!)


    ¡°Think about what?¡± Izzy asked innocently.


    ¡°I um,¡± Maya shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ll get Vi to explain it when you¡¯re older¡­¡±


    Izzy frowned. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±


    ¡°It means I¡¯m not explaining it.¡± She explained.


    ¡°But why?¡± Izzy questioned sitting up.


    ¡°Because!¡±


    ¡°Because why though?!¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m not going to be the one to give you that talk!¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1XP to Mobility


    --Currently Lv. 3 (2/8)


    -Gained 1XP to Fighting


    --*Skill Level Up* Lv. 2 (0/6)


    -Izzy will start training with you again. (But only if you¡¯re not Exhausted.)


    -Grown a bit closer to Izzy


    ---


    While the house was beginning to run low on Electronics, she lucked out in finding a small stash of broken appliances, that while not very advanced could be used for a few of her more simplistic projects.


    (We¡¯re going to have to find a new source of electronics soon¡­) Her inner reason warned.


    ¡°I know¡­ but I¡¯m not really sure where we can start searching.¡± She admitted, taking the last of the appliances to her room.


    (The junkyard perhaps?)


    ¡°No, but anyone with half a brain would know to watch for M.A.D.s raiding the place.¡± She reminded herself. ¡°And given how we already had one kidnapping attempt I don¡¯t really feel up to another one¡­¡±


    (Then we¡¯ll just have to fight everyone off!)


    (I don¡¯t believe we can do that just yet¡­)


    (Tch, we¡¯ll get there eventually.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (2D6=8) Electronics


    ---


    ¡°Ah, there you are Maya.¡± A voice called as she made her way downstairs after stashing her latest haul.


    ¡°Uh, did you need something mam¨¢?¡± She asked, her accent passively taking on a Spanish flare as she turned to a naturally tanned woman with long wavy brown hair, that for some reason was far more tamed than either of her older two daughters.


    ¡°Yes, I was wondering if you could help me set up for Seamus play group this afternoon.¡± Her mother told her, moving through the kitchen as she prepared three different dishes.


    ¡°Uh, what exactly do you need me to do?¡± She glanced at Seamus who was drawing at the kitchen table. ¡°Seamus doesn¡¯t seem to need any watching.¡±


    ¡°No, but I have to get everything together for when the other parents get here.¡± Her mother pointed out.


    ¡°And, again, what do you need me to do?¡± She repeated, only the slightest bit of passive aggression slipping into her voice as she spoke with her mother. Something her mother didn¡¯t notice given how busy she was. (Like usual¡­)


    ¡°Right, I need you to add more water those beans, dice those tomatoes for this salsa, then get out a can of sauce so I can start rolling enchiladas.¡± Her mother began listing.


    She couldn¡¯t help but grimace. ¡°Ugh, I hate cooking though¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, usually I¡¯d get Vivi to help me, but she¡¯s at college right now.¡± Her mother explained before giving her look. ¡°Besides you really should learn how to cook. You don¡¯t want your husband starving when you get married.¡±


    (Or wife if I go that way.) She added silently.


    ¡°So, come on you¡¯ve had a Quinceanera so it¡¯s more than time to start learning to cook.¡±


    She grimaced. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit old fashioned?¡±


    Her mother rolled her eyed. ¡°If you manage to get a house husband that does all of the cooking and cleaning, I will be the first one to congratulate you, mija. That said, you¡¯re still learning to cook so that you don¡¯t live on just ramen and energy drinks.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± She cried indignantly. ¡°I¡¯d live on pizza too!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not helping your case.¡±


    ¡°It counts as a vegetable!¡± She argued.


    Her mother gave her a look. ¡°Says who?¡±


    ¡°The government.¡± She¡¯d looked it up when she found about it.


    ¡°So, a bunch of idiotas?¡±


    She opened her mouth, before closing it.


    (Damn, we can¡¯t argue that one.)


    ¡°Fine¡­¡± She eventually groaned, as she got to work helping her mother move through the kitchen. ¡°But can you at least tell me why we have to do all of the cooking whenever we do this.¡±


    ¡°Because I refuse to let esas perras think they can out do me.¡± Her mother told her bluntly, killing any possibility of this being an act of compassion or politeness. ¡°I want them to remember their husbands only volunteer to watch their kids because they prefer my cooking to the mierda they put on the table. That¡¯s right, I¡¯ll fucking show them¡­¡±


    (Huh, so that¡¯s where I get it from.)


    Scene Consequences


    -New Skill: Cooking at Lv. 1 (2/4)


    -Grown a bit closer to mom.

 Turn 13

    Turn 13


    --- Maya ---


    As was becoming habit she and Izzy set out for their morning run together, and to her satisfaction her younger sister didn¡¯t do anything to protest to her joining this time around.


    Which while a good thing, meant she no longer had anything to focus on to help her forget about the fact that her everything was hurting.


    ¡°Why did we want to do this again?¡± She asked, through her burning lungs.


    (I believe it¡¯s largely because young Isabella told us we couldn¡¯t.)


    (Damn you reverse psychology!)


    Scene Consequences


    -With Izzy¡¯s help gained 4XP to Mobility


    --Currently: Lv. 3 (6/8)


    ---


    As she and Izzy got closer to the house, Maya decided it was best split off towards the bus, telling her younger sister that she needed to pick up some junk for one of her projects. Something that was quickly becoming her go to lie for her M.A.D. activities.


    ¡°Technically it¡¯s not a lie.¡± She commented, as the bus pulled up to her destination. ¡°I really do need to pick up more supplies for one of our projects, even if I haven¡¯t actually started said project.¡±


    She ignored the look the bus driver gave her for talking to herself as she stepped off the bus.


    ¡°Okay, so¡­ Trainyard.¡± She stated as they walked up on it. ¡°Pros, cons, what are we thinking?¡±


    (Well there¡¯s plenty of scrap we can use for our more mechanical projects.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    ¡°If we¡¯re not afraid of tetanus.¡± She agreed, kicking aside a piece of metal that was more rust than useable metal, only for it to knock over a glass bottle. ¡°And there¡¯s that¡­¡±


    (Yes, we aren¡¯t the only ones who¡¯d be visiting this area now are we¡­)


    (That just means we¡¯ll have to beat up the competition!)


    (I think it¡¯d be better if we kept the location of our base secret, at least until we can build up some defenses.)


    (Bleh, best defense is a good offense!)


    ¡°Still, not sure if we want to risk a bunch of drunks stumbling onto our base. Especially since a lot of teen parties happen around here, which could be a problem.¡±


    (Ah, right, Tommy¡¯s band threw a party here once didn¡¯t they?)


    ¡°Eh, more like they were invited to play for the party.¡± She remembered, while pulling open one of the train cars. ¡°Might be able to hide a base, if we lock up one of these cars.¡±


    (Still wish he¡¯d let us tag along.)


    (We¡¯re underage, and there was alcohol present.)


    (He¡¯s underage!)


    ¡°I think there might¡¯ve been drugs too.¡± She reminded them, as she climbed into the cart and gave it a look. ¡°Mm, bit bigger than our room back home, and we won¡¯t have to share with Izzy here.¡±


    (Still, we¡¯ll need to clean this place up some if we want to set up here.) Her inner logic pointed out. (Tetanus and all that.)


    ¡°Mm, might now be worth it between the drunks, parties, and rust.¡± She decided, ¡°Either way we¡¯ve still got a couple other places to check out before we decide.¡±


    (True.)


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°That said whether or not we set up shop there¡¯s enough Scrap here to make it worth the occasional trip.¡±


    (Speaking of since we¡¯re already here¡­)


    (No point letting all of the metal rust, heh-heh-heh.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (D6=3) Scrap.


    -Can now gather Scrap from the Trainyard.


    ---


    Once she¡¯d returned home, she came to realize the only place left on their list of possible bases was the warehouse district. An area that had a fair amount of gang activity, even if it wasn¡¯t from the big three.


    As such she decided it was for the best to try and fit another upgrade to her Hand Cannons into her schedule. Namely optimizing them for whenever he used sound as their primary element.


    With electricity there wasn¡¯t much more she could do to it without increasing her chance of crippling someone outside of the heroic range. Sound however had a little more wiggle room, as it were.


    By taking apart the speakers she¡¯d gotten from Tommy and figuring out how to manipulate sound with her programs, she found a way to give her Hand Cannons a little more oomph. Allowing her to outright push objects away with her sound blasts rather than just amp-ing the force behind her blows like it had before.


    It could still do that, but she felt the knockback effect to be a little more useful in the long run.


    ¡°Alright, testing¡­ one¡­ two¡­ three¡­ fire!¡± She shot her hand forward, throwing a burst of sonic energy at a can, impacting it hard enough to send it flying into the wall with an audible crunch. Something made only worse by the fact that her Hand Cannons on Sonic, were already much louder than she¡¯d been anticipating. ¡°Oh, shit!¡±


    ¡°WHAT DID YOU KIDS JUST BREAK?!¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t me!¡± ¡°Not it!¡± ¡°Nope!¡± Her siblings cried one after the other from their various places around the house.


    (Do I even need to explain why that was a bad idea?)


    ¡°Shut up¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Hand Cannons upgraded to Mk. 1.3


    --When using [Sonic] ammo attacks gain pushback and a wider radius of effect.


    ---


    Stashing her Hand Cannons and deciding that that was enough tinkering for one day, she got on her laptop to look up a topic that had been on her mind for several days now.


    What exactly were Biotech M.A.D.s capable of?


    Because while she couldn¡¯t make everything they could, she was sure her brilliance could at least manage some of the low tier stuff. And given what she¡¯d picked up about them during her research into M.A.D.s even the low tier stuff could prove useful to an up and coming hero.


    ¡°From the looks of it most Bio M.A.D.s tend to work either in the medical field or with plant matter.¡± She figured after reading through several pages. ¡°You know, gene therapy for genetic diseases, or plants made to grow bigger, healthier, and tastier. Also, whoever made strawberry flavored broccoli is a genius. And why the fuck isn¡¯t mom buying strawberry flavored broccoli?!¡±


    (Makes sense. People probably get a little uppity when an M.A.D.s creations are ¡®alive¡¯ to the point of moving and breathing.) Her inner logic reasoned, purposely ignoring her non sequitur.


    (Well, if that¡¯s what all of the boring M.A.D.s are up to, then what are the villainous ones doing?) Her inner wild thing asked.


    She went through several pages, before eventually coming across a series of news photos of what looked to be a giant frog-lizard hybrid in a cage, a giant humanoid insect with mantis arms dissected on a lab table, and a dog with tendrils erupting from its back lying dead on a concrete floor.


    ¡°Okay, so they make the monsters rejected from the Resident Evil games.¡±


    (I don¡¯t know that mantis thing looks more like a necromorph to me.)


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°The point stands, none of these are very friendly looking, and most of them are fodder enemies at best. Probably not worth it given how they all make you look like an instant villain.¡±


    (Ooh, wait! Click that link to Nintendo!)


    ¡°What why would- They made real life Pok¨¦mon!¡± She squealed watching an adorable yellow mouse like creature playing with a bunch of kids. ¡°How do I get one?¡±


    (Mm, it says here they only made a handful of real Pok¨¦mon, and that they¡¯re all sterile and largely depowered so as to keep them from becoming an actual threat to anyone. What¡¯s more their all programmed to try and make their ways back home should anyone try and kidnap one.)


    (Aww¡­ I wanted a electric murder mouse to cuddle and sic on my enemies¡­)


    Taking a moment to see what ideas the whispers were offering, she eventually nodded to herself. ¡°It is decided then. We shall develop our biotech until we reach the point where we can create our own Pok¨¦-¡± ¨C(It¡¯s breaks copyright infringement for us to call them that in any way form or fashion.)- ¡°Our own adorable murder pets!¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Bioware* unlocked.


    -New Projects available.


    -Can now gather Organics from the forest.


    *Bioware differs from software and hardware in that once you¡¯ve built a station for a project, any projects you set to that station will take a set number of turns to grow before being ready for collection.


    Note: While collecting a project consumes an Action Point, you can set the next project for no AP so long as you have the required resources on site. Additionally, you can collect and set all applicable stations in a single action.

 Turn 14

    Turn 14


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Another morning, another run.¡± She sighed, once more just barely keeping up with Izzy¡¯s pace.


    (Well at the very least we¡¯re getting the hand of this running thing now.)


    (We¡¯re still getting our asses handed to us by a twelve-year-old.)


    (Perhaps, but at the very least we¡¯re not exhausting ourselves doing it.)


    ¡°A surprising amount of this is just mental pacing and control.¡± She commented idly, since that was the primary reason she was doing as well as she was.


    ¡°I know, I¡¯m still surprised you¡¯ve caught onto all of the technique and stuff so easily.¡± Izzy admitted having overheard her words. ¡°Still doesn¡¯t do much for your actual lack of muscles though.¡±


    Her sister¡¯s words weren¡¯t entirely wrong, because while she had picked up all of the running techniques with an absurd ease, her actual physique was still just barely above that of the infamous American couch potato.


    Scene Choice & Consequences


    -Thanks to Izzy gained 4XP to Mobility


    --*Level Up* Mobility is now Lv. 4 (2/10)


    --*Rank Up* Mobility is now Rank E, while she¡¯s not the best runner she¡¯s better than your average person. (Maya can now out pace most untrained individuals in speed, be it in a race or a chase.)


    For Ranking Up A Skill, Choose A Perk


    (Note: the [X] was the winning perk from this vote.)


    [X]-Conditioning (I): Take a rank in conditioning, increasing Maya¡¯s Endurance and HP by a small amount.


    []-Sprinter¡¯s Burst: During a chase or escape Maya can temporarily pick up the pace, effectively letting her run as if she was a Rank higher, at the cost of possibly Exhausting her. (Causes a point of Physical Exhaustion.)


    []-Proper Pacing: This perk doubles the amount of Stamina points Maya gets per point of Endurance. (Current Stamina: 2)


    ---


    Deciding to try and take a break for once after her run with Izzy, she went to her laptop to try and do a little more research into what exactly M.A.D.s were capable of in the hopes of inspiring some greater ideas within the whispers of her mind.


    ¡°Okay, so if we¡¯re going to be doing hero work we should probably try and look into the kinds of healing equipment other M.A.D.s make.¡± She told her other selves.


    (So, we can rip them off!)


    ¡°What, no!¡± She shook her head. ¡°To inspire us to make our own shit.¡±


    (Ah, you mean so we can bootleg them!)


    ¡°¡­¡±


    (It might be better to just let this one go.) Her inner reason warned.


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She began flickering through medical advancements M.A.D.s were responsible for in the hopes of getting an idea she could pull off with her own resources.


    ¡°Mm, let¡¯s see¡­ A form of tobacco that actually repairs the damage smoking does to the lungs?¡± She read with a bit of surprise.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    (We might want to mention that to abuelita.)


    (Don¡¯t bother they cost three times what a normal pack does¡­)


    ¡°Damn.¡± There went her Christmas present.


    (Shame too, we might¡¯ve won with that one.)


    Continuing down the page she stopped on a cool article. ¡°Ooh, prosthetics with a 3D printer?¡±


    (A good idea but not really viable with our resources, nor does it have the patch and go thing heroic healing needs.) Her inner reason warned.


    ¡°I know but still¡­ It¡¯s a cool idea.¡± And one she¡¯d have to remember if she ever made her own Cyber-Punk.


    (Cooler thing, there were no M.A.D.s on that project.)


    ¡°Huh,¡± She re-read the article. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±


    She¡¯d almost forgotten that while M.A.D.s were at the forefront of most sciences, there were just as many non-powered individuals pushing the limits as well.


    (Got to love healthy competition.)


    ¡°Point to them.¡± She agreed, knowing she¡¯d join in the race once she hit her own stride.


    (Wait, there¡¯s one we might be able to pull off now!)


    She clicked the article her inner logic had pointed out.


    (¡°Plants modified to extrapolate healing properties, verified for widespread use.¡±) She read, going over a few details about how common and widely used herbal remedies were being modified to do their jobs much better as simple easy made pastes. Enabling some pharmacies to better supply aid to lower incomes.


    ¡°Bit advanced, since we haven¡¯t actually done anything in biology yet.¡± She reminded her more ambitious self.


    (Perhaps, but remember I am the part of you that wishes to excel at whatever we do. And if we only do what we already know how to do, then we shall never advance to the next level.) Her inner reason explained.


    (That and we can make the green plants from any action game with crafting.)


    (There¡¯s that too.)


    Well, that was reason enough for her to give it a try.


    Scene Consequences


    -Unlocked New Projects and Upgrades.


    ---


    Knowing if she was going to get any of the upgrades or projects that the whispers were telling her about, she went through the entire house in an attempt to find anything she¡¯d be able to make use of.


    And while the majority of her house was getting fairly bare, she did notice that one of the neighbors had apparently thrown out their computer for whatever reason. And seeing how she didn¡¯t actually need the computer to run so much as she did the parts inside it, she saw absolutely no reason not to take the machine for herself. (After all, one woman¡¯s trash is another¡¯s treasure.)


    (You shouldn¡¯t talk about people¡¯s love lives like that.)


    She stumbled at that. ¡°The fuck?¡±


    (I don¡¯t believe that¡¯s what she was talking about¡­)


    ¡°It really isn¡¯t¡­¡± She agreed, trying to figure out where that came from.


    (Oh, well in that case¡­ Shouldn¡¯t we swipe the recycling bin too?)


    Again, her inner crazy¡¯s words made her pause.


    ¡°Actually, that isn¡¯t a bad idea.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (D6=6) Electronics.


    -Crit Bonus, gathered (D6=3) Plastic.


    ---


    With all the parts she needed now on hand, Maya decided this was the perfect time to begin working on another Memory upgrade for her COMP. Because while she did have plans for a storage server for her less integral programs to be run from once she had a base set up, that didn¡¯t change the fact that at the moment she did not have a base, and thus needed as much memory as she could cram into a handheld device.


    Luckily the computer she¡¯d swiped off the side of the road, merely had a burned-out CPU from having the fans blocked. And given how her COMP was already ten-thousand times superior to said CPU, it was no major loss to her. Especially since the hard drive was still intact leaving her with the perfect thing to upgrade her own memory. -After a few M.A.D. upgrades of her own of course.-


    ¡°And with this we should have another thirty-three percent of memory to work with.¡± She told her other selves as they slotted the expanded hard drive into place.


    (Good because some of those program upgrades we¡¯ve got cooking are going to eat right through that extra Memory.)


    ¡°Pfft,¡± She couldn¡¯t help but scoff at that understatement. ¡°How long do you guys think this upgrade will hold us over for?¡±


    (A few weeks if we¡¯re lucky.)


    (I say we¡¯ll need a new one within a week.)


    ¡°Ah, the problems of a coding M.A.D.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -COMP Memory upgraded by 5 (Current Mem. 14/20)


    -*Skill Level Up* Electronics Lv. 3 (0/8)

 Turn 15

    Turn 15


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°I think I¡¯m finally starting to keep pace with you, hermanita.¡± She told Izzy as for once, they hadn¡¯t needed to slow down for her to catch her breath.


    ¡°Really?¡± Izzy asked, just a hint of smugness in her voice.


    (Uh-oh, I don¡¯t like that tone.)


    ¡°Well, I mean we haven¡¯t had to take a break yet.¡± She explained, inwardly agreeing with her more emotional half.


    ¡°Then I guess that means it¡¯s time to pick up the pace a bit.¡± Izzy told her with a nod.


    Her head snapped to her little sister. ¡°Wait, what?¡±


    Rather than responding, Izzy seemed to put on more speed as they went from what most people would thing of as a light jog, into what was an actual run.


    ¡°Dios mio¡­¡± She whimpered.


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to Izzy, gained 3XP* to Mobility. (Lv. 4 (5/10))


    *We ranked up, while Izzy is still the same rank in this skill, so our bonus went down by 1.


    ---


    ¡°Okay, so¡­ any idea what actually constitutes as organic materials?¡± She asked as she walked through the forest.


    (The blood of our enemies?)


    ¡°Uh, little less¡­ insane, please.¡±


    (I believe anything ¡®organic¡¯ can be used.) Her inner logic offered. (Though the more biodegradable the better probably.)


    ¡°Okay, so like a bag of fallen leaves should do, right?¡± She figured, kicking a pile of leaves to the side.


    (If we melt it down with some water and a few household chemicals.)


    ¡°Alright, then I guess I¡¯ll fill my bag up then.¡±


    ¡°So, is that a no on harvesting our enemies for parts?¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered 3 units of Organic Materials. (Organics for short.)


    ---


    Having had enough of nature by the time she¡¯d gotten home, she set her bag of leaves to the side and began pulling out parts for another project she¡¯d been putting off for a while.


    If she was going to hack reality -or even keep building things- she was going to start needing a machine capable of scanning everything for her, as well as a simplistic program to relay all of that information back to her.


    To this effort she was building a general-purpose scanner. While it wouldn¡¯t give her the specific information other scanner types might, it would still allow her to get a general idea of whatever she was working with.


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    Admittedly, this meant the device as it was ran more of it¡¯s power through a program, scouring the internet for anything on whatever object she attempted to scan. But as luck would have it thanks to a few of her other projects she was able to create a number of synergistic upgrades between everything.


    First thanks to having a physical method of scanning the world around her, she was able to improve the tracking range of her MAP () by a full fifty percent.


    Next, thanks to having her Informant Network () feeding her a constant stream of data from the police, she¡¯d be able to immediately access the unsealed criminal records of any person she scanned. As well as any other data the police may have on said person of interest.


    ¡°And now our COMP can work as our very own tricorder!¡± She declared, beginning to scan things around her room.


    (Are we actually allowed to use that name?)


    (I believe so, so long as it¡¯s not the official name.)


    (Cool. Now use Mr. Tricorder on Izzy¡¯s stuff, we need to find her diary!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Developed Scanner (Mk. 1)


    --COMP is now capable of scanning for general information on any target within range. (15m)


    -Developed: Scan (): This program can be actively used to gather specified information on any target within scanner range.


    --Currently scans for general information on a target. (Basically an absurdly accurate internet search of anything in our range.)


    -Synergy: For having MAP () and Scanner, MAP () tracking range increased by 5m.


    -Synergy: For having Informant Network (), Scan () can now alert you to a target¡¯s criminal record.


    -Costs of certain upgrades have been reduced.


    -New Upgrades are available.


    ---


    Once she was done playing around with her new invention, she decided to continue working on her overhaul of her information programs. And so, she began creating a number of modifications between the way her MAP () and her Informant Network () worked together, allowing the two to more easily transfer information between each other.


    A task made significantly easier by her recent work on their code for her Scanner.


    What this mean is that while her MAP () would continue to flag any crimes her Informant Network () picked up from the police, it would now also go through any police records connected to the phones and identities her MAP () was tracking. This in turn, enabled her MAP () to flag and mark any known criminals, letting her know who was and was not a threat.


    She even went so far as to make flagged criminals pop up as red dots on her mini map, in contrast to the white dots that represented everyone else her MAP () was tracking.


    (Got to love the gaming classics.)


    (Perhaps, but isn¡¯t this something of an invasion of privacy?)


    She paused what she was doing, considering the moral implications of such a thing, when she herself was big proponent of internet privacy. (Mostly because we don¡¯t want anyone to see our internet history.)


    ¡°Mm, you¡¯re not wrong¡­¡± She admitted, feeling a little too much like Big Brother, with all of their unnecessary phone taps on otherwise innocent individuals. ¡°Yeah¡­ Let¡¯s just make this a little more discerning.¡±


    A few tweaks or so later, and rather than simply giving her everyone¡¯s record for every little infraction, it would only give her information on anyone with a record. This way the only people who would be flagged were people known for harming others, and it would give a bit of wiggle room for those who hadn¡¯t directly hurt others with their actions.


    (After all, if people want to be dumbasses and get themselves killed, well¡­ Darwinism.) Her inner insanity explained.


    (That¡¯s not a very heroic mindset¡­) Her inner reason pointed out.


    (Meh, we idiot proofed the world, and now the world is ninety percent idiot. Heroic thing would be to let nature sort it out.)


    (Again, that¡¯s not really heroic¡­ Like, at all.)


    (What? You want to go against nature? Defy the natural order?)


    (We¡¯re a M.A.D. scientist! We literally defy nature by principal of our powers!)


    ¡°¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t help but stop to listen to the arguing madness within her own mind, and from what little she was understanding, ¡°I can¡¯t actually tell which of you is arguing we¡¯re the hero and which is arguing we¡¯re the villain¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Upgraded to Map V1.1 ()


    --Map will now passively alert you to any known (violent) criminals within tracking range.


    -Due to reduced cost, Crit has been refunded.

 Turn 16

    Turn 16


    --- Maya ---


    For once, Maya¡¯s morning was not devoted to running alongside her sister.


    Instead, this morning was devoted to sparring with Izzy, who felt she needed a little more practice if she wanted to win her upcoming tournament.


    Of course, since Maya knew very little about actual combat, she spent more time being thrown into the ground and having face ground into the dirt.


    (I think I might¡¯ve preferred the running¡­)


    (I know this is honestly kind of sad. I mean you¡¯re getting our ass handed to us by a middle schooler.)


    Deciding it was best for her sanity and her ego if she just ignored her inner wild thing, she spat out a fair amount of dirt and grass before turning towards her sister.


    ¡°Is this actually helping you?¡± She asked. ¡°Because I feel like this might be a little too easy for you, hermanita.¡±


    ¡°Oh, it is.¡± Izzy nodded. ¡°But at the very least I¡¯m building muscle by throwing you around like a crash test dummy.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t appreciate that comparison.¡± She glared.


    ¡°To be fair, you¡¯re the one who agreed to let me do this.¡± Her little sister pointed out.


    ¡°That¡¯s because I thought I¡¯d pick up some of the stuff you¡¯re doing!¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ You¡¯re learning how to take a hit and a fall?¡± Izzy offered, scratching the back of her head.


    (She kind of has a point¡­)


    ¡°Ugh, I do not need this¡­¡± She groaned in frustration.


    ¡°Yeah, what you need to do is put up your guard.¡± Izzy agreed.


    ¡°Wait, wha-agh!¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to Izzy gained 4XP to Fighting. (Lv. 2 4/6)


    ---


    (I feel like it might be a bad idea to mess with the code that literally hacks reality.)


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    (Wussy.)


    ¡°Yeah, if we¡¯re going to improve our abilities and unlock new tiers of hacking we need to figure out more about how all of this stuff works.¡± She explained shifting through pieces of code that could set things on fire with the proper calibrations.


    (Only if something is touching the projection point.)


    (Like our hands, which are inside said projection point?) Her inner reason pointed out.


    ¡°We¡¯ll add heating shields or something later.¡± She promised half-heartedly.


    (That doesn¡¯t quite quell my concerns.)


    (Ooh, ¡®quell¡¯ that¡¯s a fancy word.)


    (Not now you.)


    ¡°Alright, then which parts of our code do you want to mess with?¡± She asked, as she continued to type and delete away at the very code of reality.


    (Preferably one, that doesn¡¯t risk spontaneous combustion.) Her inner logic growled. (For instance, how about we try figuring out how our memory compression works on our programs?)


    (Boo! Boring! Keep playing with fire!)


    ¡°Well, given how I¡¯m voting for messing with our energy programs too, it looks like you¡¯re outvoted at the moment.¡± She sighed in a sarcastically sympathetic manner.


    (So, what if you two voted to stick a fork in the wall socket I¡¯d have to put up with it?!)


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    (It makes our hands all tingly!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Reality Hacking gained 1XP


    --Currently: Lv. 3 (4/8)


    ---


    As her ¨C(insane)- luck would have it, Maya did make a few discoveries while experimenting with her energy codes. Discoveries that inspired her to make a few tweaks and modifications to her Blaster Protocols.


    Prior to these modifications, and Blaster-esque device she used would have to have their energy loadout set prior to a fight. This was due to a need to manually switch out the code pieces related to what kind of energy her inventions were using. A task that could take a good half-hour if her luck held up, and two if it didn¡¯t.


    Now however, she managed to rig it so that any Blaster type invention, such as her -Hand Cannons- would be capable of switching between any and all energy types that she had available. Admittedly how effective these energy types were, was still limited to whether or not her invention had been optimized for said energy or not.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­¡± She flexed her hands, her eyes locked onto the blue reload band and the blue ammo LEDs. ¡°Clinch fist. Hold reload. And Rev.¡±


    The circle around the LEDs of her Hand Cannons began to slowly fill with grey, before a slight altered version of her reload jingle that ended in a guitar rift she¡¯d recorded from one of Tommy¡¯s band sessions played out as the LEDs turned grey..


    Flexing her hand and hitting the trigger she watched the air in front of her ripple as weak blast of sonic fired from her Hand Cannons.


    Smiling, she repeated her earlier sequence of clinch, hold, and rev. This time the blue circle slowly filled with blue, before the LEDs turned grey as a crackle of electricity played out of her Cannons.


    With another flex she threw out a wave of static jumping through the air.


    ¡°Heh-heh-ha, it works!¡± She grinned firing out another wave of electricity from one hand cannon, before throwing out a sound wave as the other switched to sound.


    (Shock and awe, baby!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Blaster Protocols upgraded to Version 1.1


    --Can now cycle between elements mid-fight, when reloading Hand Cannons.

 Turn 17

    Turn 17


    --- Maya ---


    (How do we keep getting our asses kicked by a middle schooler!)


    (Because she¡¯s taking like five martial arts classes.)


    (Why is she taking so many classes?!)


    (I don¡¯t know¡­)


    Once more picking herself off the ground she rolled her shoulders, before once more taking a bastardized version of her sister¡¯s stance.


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you¡¯re still standing.¡± Izzy admitted. ¡°Then again, I haven¡¯t thrown you into the ground quite as many times as I did yesterday.¡±


    ¡°F-Screw you¡­¡± She gasped.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m trying to be nice.¡± Izzy defended with a faux hurt look.


    ¡°You¡¯re trying to be a smart mouth.¡± She argued, before glaring. ¡°Which is my thing, so don¡¯t go stealing my thing!¡±


    Izzy gave a snort of amusement. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure all of mom¡¯s kids are smart mouths.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Latin blood.¡± She agreed with a thoughtful nod.


    ¡°Mm-hmm, you ready for another beating yet?¡± Her little sister asked.


    With a resigned sigh she resumed her stance and nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to Izzy gained 4XP in Fighting


    --*Skill Level Up* Fighting is now Lv. 3 (2/8)


    ---


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m willing to admit I have no idea what I¡¯ve built here¡­¡± She told her other selves in the hopes that some part of her knew what they were doing.


    (We¡¯re building a foundation for our more organic projects.)


    ¡°I know that, but I mean what the fuck have we built?!¡± She repeated, gesturing to the shoebox sized¡­ (abomination) she¡¯d built.


    The (thing) in question was on the outside a metal box, with bits of circuitry she could plug into her computer to tell the box what to do. This was the half of the invention that she was okay with. The part that she understood.


    What was freaking her out however was the bubbling, mulchy liquid, that seemed to have tubes and veins connecting it and the machinery. A disgusting imagery that was made worse once one realized the more¡­ solid, bits of the mulch seemed to be growing and shrinking with a steady pulse. Almost as if it were alive.


    (I knew we were going to make god cry¡­) Her inner insanity admitted.


    ¡°I¡­ it¡¯s not alive.¡± She told her other selves. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s like an artificial womb. Yeah, the organic bits are¡­ synthetic, not really alive.¡±


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    (Keep telling yourself that after we¡¯ve unleashed the Zerg upon humanity.)


    ¡°It, it won¡¯t get that bad.¡± She (lied to herself.)


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not lying! If it turns out to really be evil, then I¡¯ll¡­ I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ll do something about it¡­¡±


    (Either way we¡¯ve still got a couple of days before it finishes growing.)


    Scene Consequences


    -New M.A.D. Skill Discovered: [Biology]


    -Bio-pod (Small) will be available for use in 2 days* time.


    *This means it¡¯ll be ready to collect on the day after next.


    A/N: Nothing we make is inherently evil but messing with biology is going to cause a bit of squick in the uninitiated.


    ---


    Taking a slight detour on her way towards the warehouse district, Maya stopped by the Trainyard to try and collect some scrap for a project she¡¯d been meaning to get to work on.


    Surprisingly enough, despite being covered in scrap metal, not all of it was legitimately useable. What with most of it being covered in a layer of rust.


    That said, when she finally came across a piece of un-rusted metal, it was more than large enough to make up for the material¡¯s scarcity.


    (You know thinking about it, we probably should have scavenged the scrap on our way back to the house, rather than on our way to the Warehouse district.)


    ¡°We had to cross it either way on foot.¡± She reminded her other self.


    (Perhaps, but it would be significantly easier if we didn¡¯t have to lug ten pounds of metal around the entire time!)


    ¡°Eh, we¡¯re putting all of that running to good use.¡±


    (Yeah, got to build those muscles if we want to beat that middle schooler.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (D6=6) Scrap.


    -Gathered (Crit D6=1) Scrap*.


    *Figured scrap is more valuable right now, and with a second thought plastic wouldn¡¯t be all that common at a trainyard. So, for now Trainyard Crits give bonus scrap.


    ---


    (You know, I think you¡¯re kind of failing your job right now.)


    (What why?)


    (Because we¡¯re willingly wandering through one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the city!) Her inner passion yelled, as they cut through an alleyway between the various warehouses surrounding them.


    ¡°To be fair though, I¡¯m not stupid enough to wander around without my COMP and my Hand Cannons.¡± She pointed out giving her gloves another tug, before stuffing them in her hoodie pockets.


    (Still this is where people go to get mugged.) Her inner child told her petulantly.


    ¡°Which makes it the ideal place for an up and coming hero to patrol.¡± Her inner reason agreed. ¡°At least once we have a base set up anyway.¡±


    ¡°Which is why we are actually here.¡± She reminded the voices in her head. ¡°If we built a base in one of these warehouses, then we¡¯d be close enough to keep an eye on the local gangs, as well as react if something big was going on in the city.¡±


    (True, but we¡¯d also run the risk of getting mugged every other trip to our base.)


    (See, now you¡¯re doing your job. Meaning it¡¯s time to do mine¡­ We don¡¯t have to worry about getting mugged, they¡¯re just easy XP.)


    (Perhaps, but so much mask activity in a single location might draw attention to our base of operations.)


    ¡°Which would already be at risk, given how the more we build here the more likely we are to draw attention¡­¡± She sighed, before shaking her head. ¡°Yeah, this place might be a little too high of a difficulty for us right now.¡±


    (I suppose so, but-)


    A loud crashing sound cut through her thoughts, as shattering glass tore through the air, forcing her to turn towards the source of the noise, where she saw


    []-Fire on the horizon.


    [X]-Lights and music blaring.


    []-A mist spreading on the streets.


    []-An otherwise peaceful night.


    A/N: Since you guys immediately finished the last task of that quest, rather than giving you a mix of the encounters I¡¯m going to let you pick which one you have to deal with as a mid-boss. Oh, and before I forget¡­


    If you run into trouble how would you prefer to handle it?


    [X]-Cautious, slow and steady.


    []-Assault, fast and loud.


    []-Ghost, hidden and distant.


    []-Retreat, safe and away.

 Rave, Rave, Revolution! First Beat!

    Rave, Rave, Revolution! First Beat!


    --- Maya ---


    A loud crashing sound cut through her thoughts, as shattering glass tore through the air, forcing her to turn towards the source of the noise, where she saw beams of light cutting through the air and a faint thumping of music in the air.


    ¡°What was that?¡± She asked, already making her way towards the source of the noise, the thumping in the air slowly getting louder.


    (I don¡¯t know, but perhaps it¡¯d be best to proceed with caution for now.)


    ¡°Yeah, but we should at least see what¡¯s going on.¡± She told herself. ¡°Someone might be in trouble, and we might be able to help.¡±


    (Right, just try to be careful.)


    ¡°Slow and steady.¡± She agreed.


    It didn¡¯t take her long from there to make her way to the source of the light and music, a large warehouse with a number of teenagers standing around the entrance. On the positive side of things, it didn¡¯t look like anyone was actually hurt. Unfortunately, on the more negative side of things there was definitely a Deviant involved in this party.


    On their own, the warehouse rave and all of the milling teenagers, were fairly similar to the parties she¡¯d witnessed the few times she¡¯d managed to convince Tommy to let her follow him to one of his parties, just to see what they were like. What made this scene different, and her sure that something else was going on, however was the rave¡¯s bouncers.


    Standing to either side of the entrance was a bipedal white bear like creature wearing a sleeveless leather jacket and sunglasses, their arms crossed over their chests and their heads slowly banging to the beat of the music.


    (Well, that¡¯s certainly something you don¡¯t see every day¡­)


    (Awesome! Our first real fight is with a couple of bears! This is going to be epic!)


    (Not yet.) She scolded her inner passion. (We don¡¯t know if they¡¯re actually causing any trouble. For all we know this might just be a Deviant throwing a rave. We don¡¯t want to be the dicks that call the cops on an innocent party.)


    (Fine¡­) Her inner child groaned in resignation.


    Deciding it would be best to take an actual look at what was happening inside of the party, she began walking towards the entrance.


    As she got closer she noticed a number of the party goers were wearing odd neon patterns on their hoodies, and that a fair number of these people were pinging her MAP ()¡¯s radar as criminals.


    Subtly pulling out her COMP, she used her Scan () program on one of the nearby gang members, watching her power supply tick down to nineteen, as it pulled up the criminal¡¯s record.


    (He¡¯s a known member of the Gamer¡¯s Guild, meaning this whole party is probably their thing¡­)


    (Does that mean we¡¯re going to bust them up yet?)


    (No, not until we know exactly what¡¯s going on here. They still aren¡¯t doing anything illegal, beyond a few noise complaints.) Which oddly enough, none of which were being filed, given how her Informant Network () had yet to find any crimes being reported in the area.


    (I suppose that means the people here don¡¯t mind the party all that much.) Her inner logic attempted in a point of optimism.


    (That or they''re too scared to report anything.) Her inner passion countered with an equal amount of cynicism.


    (Either way, we don¡¯t know enough just yet.) She told the arguing voices in her head, before freezing as a large white furred arm covered in blue and violet patterns blocked her path.


    The bouncer bear growled at her, until she took a cautious step back, at which point it crossed its arms over its chest again and glared at her.


    ¡°Uh, did I do something wrong?¡± She asked after standing there for a moment and receiving no other warning to leave.


    The bear adjusted its glasses before pointing a claw at the door, and once more crossing its arms.


    (What the hell is that supposed to mean?)


    She glanced around the crowd a bit in the hopes of figuring out what the bear meant, before realizing that at least half of the party goers were wearing glasses disturbingly similar to her headset, if not a little more professionally made.


    (These fuckers are trying to jack our style!)


    ¡°My bad,¡± She bopped a hand against her head, before reaching into her hoodie. ¡°Forgot to put them on before walking up. I¡¯m still sort of new to everything.¡± She tried explaining as she slipped her headset on, hoping the bears wouldn¡¯t be able to tell the difference between her own and everyone else¡¯s with all of the shifting lights.


    The bear gave her a hard look, and she nearly thought he¡¯d seen through her lie, before the bouncer gestured for her to go in.


    ¡°Heh, thanks man.¡± She nodded back to the bear as she quickly made her way into the rave.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Immediately she wished she hadn¡¯t.


    The main reason she¡¯d never gotten into the parties Tommy and his friends had was because all of the noise from the maxed out speakers would cause her ears to hurt, as the vibrations from the sound made her stomach roll.


    ¡°Shit, this was a bad idea.¡± She groaned, wishing she¡¯d added some kind of noise filter to her headphones.


    (Come on, we¡¯re too far in to back out now.) Her inner wild thing warned.


    (She¡¯s right, it¡¯d do nothing but draw attention to us at this stage.)


    Knowing they were right, she shook her head and forced herself deeper into the rave, trying to avoid all of the sweating bodies jumping all about as they danced to the music.


    (Damn it, don¡¯t any of these people know about personal space!)


    Only half listening to her own emotions, she continued walking through the party, idly noting the way her headset continued to ping a number of gang members onto her map. And even though she could already spot a dozen red dots on her map, she was considering herself extremely lucky that the crowd of a hundred didn¡¯t have even more of the gang members strewn about. Though that did little to comfort her in the face of so many red dots.


    (It¡¯s just a party, they¡¯re not doing anything illegal¡­) She told herself in an attempt to calm her nerves.


    Eventually in her attempts to avoid being shoved around she somehow made her way towards the back of the warehouse where a large stage had been set up between two massive ceiling to floor speaker sets.


    Just a little further behind the stage was another raised platform where a man was playing on a mixer board rapidly tweaking a disk with one hand while holding his headphone with the other. He wore the same glasses that the majority of the party goers were, as well as the neon painted jacket of the guild, though his showed a significantly more elaborate than the rest.


    On impulse she used her COMP to cast Scan () on the DJ, something in the back of her head telling her he was important somehow.


    (DJ Decker. A lieutenant of the Gamer¡¯s Guild.) She read as her Informant Network steadily sent her more and more information about the man on the stage. (His chosen powers revolve around light, music, and summoning monsters, all of which are anchored to his mixer board.)


    (Meaning we¡¯re going to have to smash the board if we want to beat him.)


    (Careful now, we¡¯re out numbered and in the center of his territory. It might be better to just keep watching.) Her inner reason warned.


    (Right, after all we still haven¡¯t seen anything illegal. This might just be a regular party to these guys.) She told her more antsy self, knowing how thin of an excuse it was since the gang members were likely selling drugs or something along those lines just out of sight.


    (Perhaps it¡¯d be best if we retreated now¡­)


    (Yeah, that¡­ sounds like a good idea.) She agreed, the idea of picking a fight making her want to vomit.


    ¡°Hello party peeps!¡± A voice screamed into a mic, as she turned to leave, killing the noise of the blasting bass and forcing her attention back to the stage. ¡°It¡¯s finally time for the main event of the evening!¡±


    Cheers rushed through the crowd, the loudest coming from those dressed in the gamer¡¯s guild¡¯s hoodies or wearing those neon glasses, as Decker appeared on a massive screen behind the stage.


    ¡°Now as our various streamers and their recurring followers know, once a month the Gamer¡¯s Guild holds a tutorial for our new gamers to log-in and play!¡± Decker explained to the crowd eliciting another cheer. ¡°And as luck would have it for you lot, this month¡¯s beta is being held by your boy, DJ DECKER!¡±


    The lights and music kicked off even bigger, brighter, and louder than before making her headache and the rolling her stomach worse.


    ¡°Now since I¡¯m the one DM¡¯ing for the GM, I¡¯ve decided to kick our tutorial off with the staple of any good game, the combat.¡± Decker pressed something on his mixer, and with a slow drop of the bass a swarm of pixels began to form in midair, gathering together as they spun faster and faster before erupting in a show of lights.


    From the lights fell a large white wolf with blue patterns swirling throughout its fur, the beast¡¯s front legs made of a humming blue energy rather than flesh and bone.


    Those closer to the stage backed away as the beast snapped at them, growling as rabid drool dripped from its maul.


    ¡°Oh, come now don¡¯t be afraid!¡± Decker laughed, loving their reactions. ¡°I figured it¡¯d be more fun for our new adventurers to start off with something a bit more fun than rats in a sewer.¡±


    Several people wearing glasses but no jacket began making their way to the sides of the stage.


    ¡°Ah, come now, that can¡¯t be all the volunteers we have?¡± Decker told the crowd with a tilt of his head.


    At this signal a number of the gang members wearing both the glasses and the hoodies began to subtly push several party goers wearing neither towards the rest of the initiates. Not enough to draw attention, but enough that as close as she was, that she could see it.


    (What¡¯s happening?)


    ¡°Now that¡¯s what I¡¯m talking about!¡± Decker cheered clapping for the initiates.


    (Oh, no¡­)


    ¡°And for those of our more¡­ reluctant new players. Well, you don¡¯t have to worry about a thing¡­¡± Decker tilted his glasses down, revealing his pitch-black eyes as he gave everyone a too-wide Cheshire grin. ¡°After all, once you¡¯ve had that first hit of madness, you¡¯ll realize just how much of a game life really is.¡±


    (Shit, he¡¯s forcing people into the gang.) She realized as the GG members around her cheered, and their guest did so too if a bit more reluctantly, likely just glad they weren¡¯t being forced to fight the monsters.


    (We¡¯ve got to do something¡­) Her eyes darted around the rave, trying to figure out what she could do.


    Behind her was the warehouse entrance where the Bouncer Bears had stepped inside, to watch the initiation.


    (If we hit them full throttle, we might be able to provide an opening for people to escape, while taking the bears out by surprise.) Her inner logic offered as way of escape.


    (But we¡¯d also be leaving those being initiated to the wolves¡­) She pointed out as her eyes moved back to the stage, just in time to see a scared teen thrown forward.


    (In that case let¡¯s take the stage and blast ¡®em. We¡¯ll have to fight our way out, but we won¡¯t be leaving anyone behind either.) Her inner wild thing offered.


    (If we rush the stage they¡¯ll have plenty of space to attack us once we out ourselves, it¡¯d be better to sneak away while we can!)


    (No we need to take out Decker before he can hurt anyone!)


    The voices in her head continued to argue, as she gripped her ears trying to block out all of the noise, but unable to silence the yelling in her own mind as her breathing became more erratic and the whispers in her mind continued on chittering excitedly.


    (I don¡¯t know what to do¡­ I don¡¯t know what to do¡­ I don¡¯t know what to do!)


    Her eyes darted between the stage, the entrance, the initiates once more before closing as she tried to just think.

 Rave, Rave, Revolution! Second Beat!

    Rave, Rave, Revolution! Second Beat!


    --- Maya ---


    She shook her head, her eyes snapping open as she turned back to the stage.


    A strange sense of calm overcame her, the voices in her head calming down to a buzzing excitement and little more, as her headache and rolling stomach both began to fade.


    ¡°Alright¡­ fuck it.¡±


    Pushing her way through the crowd she made her way over to where the initiates were being forced to line up to take their turns to fight the wolf.


    She was stopped by a member of the guild leaning against the stage and making sure none of the initiates tried to chicken out.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± The guard asked, the music surprisingly quiet so close to the speakers.


    (Decker must be manipulating the sound so the guild members can explain the rules to the recruits¡­) She thought to herself.


    ¡°Hey, sorry¡­ I got stuck in the crowd when Decker was asking for volunteers.¡± She told him, pretending to pant as if she¡¯d just ran her way to the stage. ¡°I¡¯m not too late am I?¡±


    The guard eyed her for a moment before waving her through. ¡°Nah, don¡¯t have it in me to stop another gamer, go on in.¡±


    ¡°Thanks!¡± She took two steps forward before stopping. ¡°Oh, I almost forgot!¡±


    ¡°Wha-aaggh!¡± The guild member seized as she tased him with enough electricity to leave him stunned, any light or noise being covered by the lights and music of the rave.


    Leaving the guards unconscious body leaning against the stage, she quickly made her way to the line of initiates, slowly pushing her way towards the front of the line.


    ¡°Hey, no cutting.¡± An initiate wearing glasses told her.


    (If he wanted to join up than that means he¡¯s as good as a member already.)


    Deciding there was no reason to feel any guilt, she kneed the asshole and pushed past him and the other male initiates who were all giving her a wide berth now, while the few female ones looked like they wanted to give her a pat on the back.


    She ignored the way the ones who didn¡¯t want to be there were cringing away from her with fearful gazes.


    ¡°Anyone mind if I take first round?¡± She asked making her way to the female guild member standing between the initiates and the wolf. ¡°No? Cool.¡±


    ¡°Not bad, for a newbie.¡± The guard told her.


    ¡°Thanks, so how¡¯s this work?¡± (And when can I get close enough to break that mixer board?)


    ¡°Fairly straightforward, pick a power-up and step onto the stage.¡± The guard explained, gesturing to a number of items laying on a table next to the stairs, several of which she recognized as power-ups from a number of classic arcade games.


    (Ooh, fire flower¡­ but there¡¯s the mallet!)


    ¡°So, how do these work?¡± she asked, hand drifting between every other power-up as her inner gamer begged to go wild. (After all it won¡¯t hurt to use their own stuff against them.)


    ¡°Got to figure that part out for yourself newbie.¡± The guard laughed, giving her a smile.


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She shook her head, before freezing her hand inches away from one of the power-ups, the whispers in her head suddenly so loud and numerous that they were drowning out all sound.


    Pulling her hand away, she swallowed down a fair amount of apprehension as she suddenly recalled Decker¡¯s words to those being forced into the guild.


    (¡°After all, once you¡¯ve had that first hit of madness, you¡¯ll realize just how much of a game life really is.¡±)


    The table of power-ups suddenly took on a much more ominous purpose, than helping the recruits through their challenge.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°You know, thinking about it¡­ I might be better off on my own.¡± She told the guard as she turned back to the stairs.


    ¡°I appreciate the enthusiasm kid but trust me when I say you want one of- agh!¡± The guard¡¯s encouragement was cut off as she once more used her Hand Cannons to tase another guild member.


    ¡°Yeah, no, I¡¯ve already got my own.¡± She admitted, letting the guard fall down the steps in full view of the guild¡¯s initiates.


    (Really is no backing out now.) She told herself as she saw the mix of confusion, hope, and rage drifting through the initiates willing and un.


    Continuing up the steps she made her way onto the stage, and stopped as a spotlight hit the stage, leaving only her, Decker, and the wolf visible.


    ¡°Oh, ho, and we¡¯ve got our first player of the evening! A kickass girl who looks ready to kick ass!¡± Decker cheered, hyping up the crowd. ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone tell you girls can¡¯t game, sister!¡±


    (You know if he wasn¡¯t an asshole gang member he might actually be kind of cool.) She decided, giving him the middle finger.


    ¡°Ha! And she¡¯s got some spice to her too!¡± Decker laughed. ¡°I have got to introduce you to Nix¡¯s party after this! But that¡¯s for the after-party, right now it¡¯s time to start the game!¡±


    She turned her attention to the monster wolf that had been holding its ground. Odds were, dragging her fight out with it until she could get a direct shot at Decker was her best bet, but at the same time if she took too long than the guild would realize something was up with the two guards she downed.


    (Slow and steady.) She reminded herself, feeling a slight buzzing from the whispers as she eyed the mob in front of her.


    ¡°On this side we have my wolf-y friend that we¡¯ve already been acquainted with. And on this side we have the kickass gamer girl, equipped with the¡­¡± For the first time since the rave had begun Decker well and truly lost his smile. ¡°You don¡¯t have a power-up.¡±


    (Well, there goes my plan.) She sighed, before powering up her Hand Cannons. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I made my own build.¡±


    ¡°Huh, so you did.¡± Decker nodded, eyeing her intently before snapping his fingers. ¡°Fight.¡±


    Without preamble the wolf lunged at her, forcing her to roll to the side if she wanted to avoid being mauled apart.


    (Damn it,) She cursed quickly rolling to her feet. (I really am going to have to thank Izzy for teaching me out to take a fall.) She probably couldn¡¯t manage it if she¡¯d actually been hit, but the little bit of experience she did have was just enough to save her.


    As the wolf began to turn towards her she rushed forward and slammed both of her Hand Cannons into its side, releasing two bursts of electricity before shattering the wolf into a cloud of pixels.


    ¡°Huh, not bad.¡± Decker admitted, before regaining his smile. ¡°But let¡¯s see how you do with more than a single creep to kill.¡±


    The entire stage began to thump to the music as three more swarms of pixels formed in the air before exploding into a pack of wolves surrounding her on all sides.


    She glanced over her shoulder at Decker¡¯s stand, she could try making a run for it, but at the same time, (I¡¯d be leaving my back to the wolves¡­ literally¡­) She thought, eyeing the wolves just waiting for a moment of weakness.


    ¡°Alright, might need something a little louder here¡­¡± She admitted, clenching her fist and revving her hand.


    Losing their patience, the wolves began to close in forcing her to run or be torn apart.


    Able to feel one of the wolves nipping at her hoodie as she ran, barely outpacing it, she spun around slapping it across the face while releasing a burst from her hand cannon. The blow wasn¡¯t enough to pixelate the monster but when combined with the beast¡¯s momentum, it sent the wolf tumbling off stage and into the crowd of party goers forcing them to back off screaming.


    Watching the monster crash, she didn¡¯t have enough time to avoid the second wolf painfully tackling her to the ground.


    ¡°Shit!¡± She cursed, barely keeping the beast at bay as it tried to tear her face off.


    ¡°You know normally my pets aren¡¯t this dangerous,¡± Decker taunted her, ¡°but I felt an uninvited guest, smurfing the bronze tier, deserved something of a¡­ higher difficulty.¡±


    (Dios mio!) Her eyes widened. (I¡¯m bronze tier, fuck!)


    Unwilling to let that stand she released a burst of electricity into face of the wolf attacking her, before pulling her other arm back as it gave off a guitar riff and slamming it into the beast¡¯s face as she released a sonic blast from her cannon, shattering the mob into pixels.


    ¡°Shit¡­¡± Forcing herself back onto her feet she eyed the wolf growling at her from a few feet away. ¡°You know what¡­¡± Lunging at the beast, she grabbed it by its head before using a sonic blast to slam its face into the pavement hard enough to pixelate it. ¡°Fuck you and your pinche perros!¡±


    Huffing she stood up as both of her Hand Cannons reloaded her back to three shots each, leaving her with sixteen power and a number of bruises.


    Turning a glare on Decker she pointed a finger at him and yelled, ¡°Chinga tu madre!¡±


    Decker threw his head back and laughed, before looking down on her with his cheshire grin. ¡°You know what? I think I¡¯m going to deal with you personally.¡±


    The sound of a record screeching tore through the air, as all of the light and music began to fade as an all-consuming black began to creep in from the shadows.


    ¡°But just so you know, noob?¡± Decker began as the shadows finally reached her, leaving her trapped in darkness. ¡°You never pick a fight with the server admin.¡±

 Rave, Rave, Revolution! Third Beat!

    Rave, Rave, Revolution! Third Beat!


    --- Maya ---


    The faint thumping of a bass surrounded her on all sides as a series of lines lit up in a square around her marking the walls, as each line rose and fell to the beat of the music.


    ¡°Oh, yes!¡± A voice called out as dancing spotlights flickered on from the ceiling above.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± She demanded as lines of light lit across the groundbreaking the room into eight long tracks.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± The voice chuckled, ¡°Is you went after a raid boss all on your own!¡±


    A flash of red, blue, and green lights along side one of the walls drew her attention, allowing her to see a shower of sparks blast out of the ground revealing a massive tower of speakers, with DJ Decker sitting at the top.


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s raise the roof on this party!¡± Decker shouted, his music growing ever louder as the walls began to shake.


    She glanced around the room expecting more pixel monsters to start showing up, and while she did spot a number of flying drones fluttering about, she didn¡¯t see anything that was an actual threat. ¡°Is something supposed to be happening asshole?¡±


    Decker just smirked at her, and- (Fuck!) -something slammed into her from behind with enough force that she was sure it was going to leave a bruise, what¡¯s worse whatever it was also somehow managed to burn her through her jacket.


    By some instinctive means she managed to force herself out of the thing¡¯s path, leaving her panting as she caught sight of a long wall of light moving from the back of the room to the front, before fading. ¡°The hell?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong girlie? Never played this game before?¡± Decker laughed as another wave of light erupted from the back, forcing her to dodge it.


    She frowned, eyeing the light as it faded and another one appeared in the same lane as her.


    (Alright, so there¡¯s his light power I guess¡­ But it looks like he can only project it from the back of the room forward¡­ Meaning I should be able to just run up and smash his tower without risking anything.)


    Nodding to herself, she sprinted forward ready to climb up the tower, at least until a wave of sound threw her back as soon as she was in arms reach of the speakers.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t think it would be that easy did you?¡± Decker taunted, as he looked down on her. ¡°I¡¯m a lieutenant of the Gamer¡¯s Guild, I¡¯ve got more than few tricks up my sleeve, such as¡­¡± Two pixel storms swirled together before throwing out another pair of the wolves in a burst of light. ¡°My blitz wolves.¡±


    ¡°More of these guys¡­¡± She growled, before glaring at Decker. ¡°You know minion bosses are the most annoying and cheap assholes in video games right?¡±


    ¡°Nope that¡¯s escort missions.¡± Decker argued without even looking up from his mixer as he sent out two waves of light along the floor tracks.


    (Damn it! I can¡¯t even argue against that!)


    The wolves danced around the light before lunging at her, their vicious teeth snapping through the air.


    ¡°Shit!¡± She cursed, diving out of their path, before forcing herself to keep moving as she avoided another trail of light.


    ¡°Oh? Did I set the difficulty too high?¡± Decker asked with false sympathy. ¡°Are you actually a bronze tiered scrub?¡±


    ¡°Fuck you, you bot using motherfucker!¡± She shouted, wishing she¡¯d picked up more curse words from her mother as Decker laughed at her.


    Eyeing one of the wolves, and timing the pattern of the lights, she rushed forward slamming her electric hand cannon into the wolf, before skirting around and blasting it towards a wave of light with her sonic one.


    ¡°Not a bad shot, counter placement.¡± Decker admitted, ¡°But sadly, friendly fire is off for this game.¡± The guild member added as the wolf stepped out of the light, a few sparks of electricity still dancing along its fur as it glared at her.


    (Damn it¡­) She thought backing away from the wolf, while keeping her eye on the other one, unwilling to take another tackle to the ground like she had on the stage.


    Of course, she was so preoccupied with the wolves that she ended up missing the wave of light coming up on her from behind. ¡°Aaaagh!¡±


    Through a bit of luck and a force of will she just barely managed to throw herself out of the light¡¯s path, though that did very little to stop the burn that was beginning to overtake her body as she laid on the ground. ¡°Shit¡­¡±


    One of the wolves began to walk up on her, and she idly cursed herself for not inventing something with a little more range than the meter blasts of her cannons. (Just going to have to time this right¡­)


    Knowing she wasn¡¯t quite skilled enough to just get up and dodge the attack, she instead waited for the wolf to rear back and lunged forward herself sending out a burst of electricity as she climbed on top of the beast and finished it off with another sonic blast into the ground.


    (Alright, one down, one to go¡­)


    Pushing past her various aches and pains, -something she¡¯d picked up after running with and having her ass kicked by Izzy- she forced herself back onto her feet, before rolling her shoulders as she turned to the other wolf.


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    (Okay, starting to feel the burn now¡­ going to have to be careful if I want to win this.) She told herself, as the whispers in her head buzzed with excitement. (Right.)


    As she eyed the wolf for the ideal moment to strike, she was forced to leap back as she caught sight of another wave of light rushing for her.


    This of course cut off her sight of the other wolf, something it used to its advantage as it suddenly tore through the light lunging at her.


    ¡°Shit!¡± More on reflex than anything else, she ended up sending off an accidental burst of electricity from her hand cannon rather than anything intentional.


    Luckily this was more than enough to finish off the already damaged pixel beast.


    Seeing a flash of blue, and feeling a cool breeze as the wolf pixelated, its bits harmlessly bouncing off of her, she couldn¡¯t help but sigh in relief at her luck.


    (That was a little too close¡­)


    Shaking her head and steeling herself, she turned back to Decker who was giving her an impressed look. ¡°It¡¯s just you and me now.¡±


    ¡°Heh, you really would make one hell of an addition to the guild you know.¡± Decker told her as he continued fiddling with his board, the thumping of the music changing to something just a touch mellower as he did so.


    ¡°I¡¯m good right where I am, thank you.¡± She told the guild lieutenant as the various drones pulled in closer.


    ¡°If you want to play this MMO solo, well, to each their own.¡± Decker shrugged, ¡°But I know for a fact you¡¯d fit in with more than one party in the guild.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, like I said I¡¯m good.¡± She refused. ¡°Besides your party is just about over!¡±


    Decker smirked, before snapping his fingers sending three more clouds of pixels swirling together as the music once more began to pick up. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry I brought plenty of tokens to keep this game going all night!¡±


    ¡°Shit¡­¡± Her eyes darted between the clouds as they shattered into another pack of wolves. ¡°This is getting really tiresome asshole!¡±


    ¡°Aw, was the party over because you want to quit?¡± Decker asked. ¡°I mean it¡¯s only round two of the fight!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not done yet!¡± She told the guild member, wishing she could just get close enough to wreck him, but every time she did he hit her with a sonic blast. ¡°Wait¡­¡±


    (His attacks hit me, but his don¡¯t hurt his minions¡­) Once more she eyed the three wolves, and then the tower of speakers. (Alright, there¡¯s an idea¡­ but it¡¯s too risky while I¡¯m so outnumbered.)


    Nodding to herself, and more than thankful she¡¯d gotten used to pushing through the pain with all of her sparring and running with Izzy, she rushed towards one of the wolves while using a sonic blast to push the other two back when they tried to intercept her.


    Dropping to her knees she slid across the ground, narrowly evading her target pixel beast nipping at her, she grabbed one of its legs before driving her hand into its chest and letting loose the last charge of her electric cannon¡¯s clip.


    She wasn¡¯t entirely sure it would work, but as luck would have it having the entire burst delivered point blank was just enough to pixelate the beast.


    ¡°Ooh, a critical hit!¡± Decker cheered for some reason. ¡°Not bad zappy!¡±


    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s Miss Zappy to you!¡± She yelled at the DJ, hoping to stall just long enough for her electric attuned hand cannon to reload.


    ¡°Pfft, Miss Zappy isn¡¯t exactly the best Mask name.¡± Decker warned.


    ¡°I- That¡¯s not my Mask name!¡± She shouted at him, before jumping out of the way of another wave of light.


    ¡°Really, then what is your gamer tag?¡± Decker asked leaning forward. ¡°Who knows I might send you a friend request after all of this.¡±


    She smiled. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s go fuck yourself FTW, because it¡¯s the only one you¡¯re getting.¡± She finished in a droll tone as she inched closer to one of the paused wolves.


    ¡°Ouch, that actually hurt a little.¡± Decker admitted with a hand over his chest.


    ¡°Good, because this whole thing is going to hurt a lot more!¡± She told him, rushing for the nearest wolf and jumping as the pixel beast lagged for a moment as it switched between it¡¯s passive and aggressive states.


    Grabbing the wolf by the side of its head, she used a sonic burst to send it skidding across the ground and towards the legs of the second wolf who was forced to leap away or be toppled over.


    Not letting up for a second she chased after the downed wolf, before slamming an electrical burst into its side, pixelating it and giving her the ideal opportunity to start her plan as she rushed towards the tower of speakers Decker stood atop of.


    Stopping just short of the line where she¡¯d been blasted away before, she set her sonic hand cannon to reload and turned back to the last wolf, waiting for the best moment to strike, and hopefully end this fight before Decker thought to summon anymore wolves.


    (Just have to time this right¡­) She thought to herself as she heard the guitar riff of her Hand Cannon¡¯s reload.


    ¡°Ooh, got yourself cornered now!¡± Decker taunted as he looked down on her. ¡°Back to my sonic speakers, and a blitz wolf just begging to tear you to shreds. Oh, what are you going to do?!¡±


    Ignoring the DJ¡¯s words, she kept her focus on the wolf stalking her from just a few short paces away, waiting for the beast to lunge at her like the rest had when they tried to close the distance.


    (Right, it¡¯s just like a game ai. That¡¯s why it¡¯s so easy for him to copy them, they¡¯re not real creatures, they''re just hard light programs following a few preprogrammed codes.) She figured, the excited whispers chittering away as they slowly tried to piece apart how these pixel beasts worked, without actually diving into the madness and magic that made them possible.


    With that idea in mind, she was fully prepared to counter the beast as it made the same movements its brethren had before lunging. And so as the wolf leapt into the air, she dropped to the ground and slid forward just under the beast¡¯s claws, leaving it to collide into the speakers with minimal damage to them or the wolf, but leaving it stunned just long enough for her to run forward and use it as a meat shield as the speakers tried to push her back.


    The force of the blast was completely nullified by Decker¡¯s lack of friendly fire as she sent burst of sound after burst of sound into the beast in order to drive the wolf further into the speaker system. At least until the pixel beast finally gave under all of the pressure, shattering it into a swarm of blue lights and giving her the chance to shove her electric hand cannon into the cracked chassis of Decker¡¯s speaker system and unleash enough power to overload the system.


    ¡°Wait, hold up! What are you doing?!¡± Decker called down with just a touch of panic as sparks began to trail all around her, and the faintest tingling sensation buzzed through her hand.


    As soon as the electricity started to die down she began climbing up the tower as fast as she could, savoring the panicking sounds coming from Decker as he continued to mess with his mixer board in hopes of undoing the damage she¡¯d done.


    Cresting the top of the tower and standing on the edge of Decker¡¯s DJ table she looked down on the fumbling guild member with a baleful glare.


    ¡°Hey, come now! Let¡¯s not do anything you¡¯ll regret; the cameras are rolling!¡± Decker warned her as he backed away from the table.


    ¡°Yeah, well that¡¯s fine, because it¡¯s game over!¡± She told him as she raised her foot above Decker¡¯s mixer board.


    ¡°Wait! No! Don¡¯t!¡± Decker shouted, reaching forward to stop her.


    Only he was too late as she crushed the board underfoot, shattering it and sending out a bright wave of blue light as she destroyed the source of Decker¡¯s powers.

 Rave, Rave, Revolution! Fourth Beat!

    Rave, Rave, Revolution! Fourth Beat!


    --- Maya ---


    She hit the ground rolling as the light faded, followed shortly after by Decker doing the same.


    ¡°Oww¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t help but groan as her everything ached. ¡°Damn it¡­¡±


    ¡°Fuck you broke my mixer¡­¡± Decker cursed from a few feet away. ¡°Why¡¯d you have to go and do that?¡±


    ¡°You were trying to kill me!¡± She reminded him, as she forced herself to her feet. Idly noting -and appreciating- the fact that the rave had apparently cleared out during their fight. Meaning Decker would have no more back up as she captured him.


    ¡°It was a game; I wasn¡¯t actually going to kill you.¡± Decker waved off her concerns as he tossed his broken mixer to the side.


    ¡°Yeah, well, what about the people you were forcing into your gang?!¡± She asked aiming one of her Hand Cannons at the gang member.


    Decker gave her a look, and even through his visor she could tell he was rolling his eyes. ¡°And like I said, after their first hit they¡¯d be thanking me.¡±


    ¡°You sound like a drug pusher.¡± She told him.


    Decker snorted. ¡°You act like you¡¯ve never gotten high on life.¡±


    She scowled at the gang Mask. ¡°Well let¡¯s see how high you get in jail!¡±


    ¡°Depending on the jail, I could probably score some pretty solid weed if I¡¯m being honest.¡± Decker admitted.


    She growled, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you freaking out! You¡¯re about to be arrested!¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯ll be out in a week tops.¡± Decker told her getting to his own feet.


    ¡°I¡­ what?¡±


    Decker gave her another look, before smiling. ¡°Huh, you really are new to this whole scene. Lucky me.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± She demanded, setting her Hand Cannons to give off a pre-shot whining sound.


    ¡°Well, what evidence do you have that I actually tried to force anyone into the Gamer¡¯s Guild?¡± Decker asked, before tapping his visor. ¡°Were you recording me with your bootlegged glasses?¡±


    ¡°Hey, these things aren¡¯t bootlegged!¡± She argued self-consciously. ¡°They¡¯re rigged to monitor all of my tech.¡±


    ¡°Still, were you recording me? Yes or no?¡± Decker pressed.


    ¡°No¡­¡± She admitted, feeling self-conscious that she hadn¡¯t thought of that as well as feeling that Decker was just smug enough to honestly explain how he was going to win.


    ¡°Good because that could¡¯ve been illegal for you.¡± Decker told her.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°What?¡± She asked dumbfounded.


    ¡°You¡¯re only allowed to record someone without their consent or acknowledgement when said recording is evidence to a felony crime.¡±


    ¡°You were kidnapping people!¡± She yelled.


    ¡°No, I was asking for volunteers for a public display, at a public party. It¡¯s not my fault if a few of their friends pressured them into it.¡± Decker argued with a distraught face she wasn¡¯t buying for a second, especially since it returned to his smug amusement just as fast.


    ¡°In reality I would¡¯ve just offered the people who passed the test an in with the guild. It¡¯d be there choice from there.¡± At this the guild member smirked at her. ¡°Of course, no one has actually said ¡®no¡¯ after passing said test.¡±


    ¡°Because you¡¯re hitting them with a Slaver effect as soon as they touch your power-ups!¡± She shouted.


    ¡°Can you prove that?¡± Decker asked her calmly, before gesturing to the empty warehouse. ¡°After all, since you didn¡¯t use one, there aren¡¯t any power-ups here for you to give as evidence.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s¡­¡± She opened and closed her mouth, trying to figure out some way to have Decker arrested. ¡°Wha-what about your drones, they were filming me! You just said that¡¯s illegal!¡±


    Decker pointed to the side. ¡°Sign on the wall.¡±


    She looked where he was pointing and saw a cartoon Decker being filmed by a drone, just next to this picture were the words, ¡®While rave is in progress this site shall be streamed to the guild¡¯s channel. By remaining here, you give your consent to being filmed on this premises.¡¯


    The worst part was that this sign was every ten feet around the entire warehouse.


    ¡°I-You can¡¯t set those here; this building is private property!¡± She yelled, not actually sure of that statement.


    ¡°It is.¡± Decker nodded, before tapping his chest. ¡°My property to be specific.¡±


    She blinked. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I own this entire warehouse. Bought it on the cheap.¡± Decker admitted with a shrug. ¡°In fact, thinking about it, technically speaking you are the one trespassing right now.¡±


    ¡°Wha- That¡¯s bullshit!¡±


    ¡°Nope. If you check just outside the doors you¡¯ll see this little gold plate with my name on it.¡± Decker told her. ¡°I mean it¡¯s not real gold because, well, this is a really bad neighborhood. Still get some dumbass trying to steal it each week.¡±


    She stared at the gang member in front of her before punching him in the face.


    Decker merely laughed at this as he wiped at his eye. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s how most people react when they realize I¡¯m the guild¡¯s legal advisor.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a lawyer?¡± She gaped in disbelief.


    ¡°I¡¯m a very big Ace Attorney, fan.¡± Decker confessed with a smirk.


    ¡°I¡­¡± She glanced around the empty warehouse, back to the gang member who she¡¯d spent the better part of an hour fighting despite the fact that apparently he hadn¡¯t committed a single crime yet, before finally giving a resigned sigh. ¡°You know what, I¡¯m just¡­ I¡¯m done for the night¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, while it¡¯s been fun, I do have an after party to get to.¡± Decker agreed cheerfully enough to make her want to repeat her previous action, before reaching into his hoodie and handing her a card featuring the cartoon DJ Decker. ¡°Though if you ever feel like having a re-match I¡¯m always down for another game or two.¡±


    For a moment she was tempted to crumple the card up, but after another she figured it¡¯d be stupid to throw away a possible method of finding Decker again. (Once I have a way of arresting his ass anyway¡­)


    Without another word she took the card and turned to leave, pretending very hard that Decker wasn¡¯t following her two steps behind while whistling the song that had been playing throughout his boss fight.


    As they stepped out of the warehouse Decker laughed. ¡°Oh, looks like the afterparty has found me already.¡±


    Wondering what he was talking about she followed his gaze before freezing, because just down the street glaring at them was a woman literally stepping out of the shadows.


    (Oh shit! What am I supposed to do?!)

 Rave, Rave, Revolution! Final Beat!

    Rave, Rave, Revolution! Final Beat!


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Who is that?¡± She asked, not recognizing the woman stepping out of the shadows as a hero or villain of the city and already thinking Decker loved to show off how smart he was.


    ¡°Zylah, the Shadow Dancer.¡± Decker told her easily enough. ¡°She¡¯s a rogue that¡¯s been bopping around the last few months, she¡¯s rather infamous for watching Mask fights without actually getting involved.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­ and now that we¡¯re not fighting?¡± She wondered.


    ¡°No telling.¡± Decker admitted with a shrug. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m hoping she wants an encore of her own.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She sighed, before turning towards Decker. ¡°Like I said, I¡¯m done for the night so, you¡¯re on your own.¡±


    ¡°Eh, I can handle myself.¡± Decker assured her.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Mm-hmm¡­ Oh, and before I forget.¡± She patted Decker¡¯s shoulder to get his attention.


    ¡°Something up gamer gir-agh!¡±


    And then kneed him as hard as she could, forcing him to bend over holding his crotch.


    Taking a look over her shoulder she noticed Zylah watching from a distance with a curious tilt of her head.


    ¡°Hey¡­¡± She waved awkwardly at the mask, taking note of the woman¡¯s black dress that seemed to be made of shadows dancing across her skin. ¡°Uh, Bye!¡±


    She turned and ran as fast as she could, hoping to leave the other two masks behind. She was not in the mood to deal with anymore stress or drama tonight.


    By the time she made it home she was already feeling the various aches and pains she¡¯d picked up through the night.


    (Everything hurts¡­)


    While she was bit later than usually was, she was able to bluff her way through any questions by lying about missing the bus and having her phone die on her without a way to charge it.


    Her parents weren¡¯t exactly happy about either of these things, but they were willing to accept it with a minimal amount of fussing. Something she was extremely grateful for since it made it much easier to just crash in her bed.


    (Yeah, I think I¡¯m just going to take tomorrow easy¡­ No training or fighting¡­ Maybe I can set up the foundations for my base¡­)

 Turn 18

    Turn 18


    --- Maya ---


    Sneaking off for the day was easy enough, especially since Izzy had decided after one look that Maya was not going to be training with her that day.


    And with the way she was feeling, she wasn¡¯t willing to put up a fight about it.


    ¡°Once I get this stuff set up I seriously need to consider building some kind of armor.¡± She told herself, feeling the aches and pains of the various bruises and light burns across her body.


    (If this is what Decker was capable of ¡®playing¡¯ with us, I don¡¯t think we should pick a proper fight with him just yet.) Her inner logic warned.


    ¡°Yeah, I wasn¡¯t planning on it.¡± She agreed, as she continued cleaning up the first room she¡¯d decided to convert into her own at the hospital.


    The place may¡¯ve been creepy as hell, but hopefully it would keep people from looking too closely for her base. Admittedly there was a chance of her scaring off potential allies for the same reason, but she was hoping she¡¯d have cleaned the place up enough to undo that effect by the time she actually started making allies with the other heroes of the city.


    She pointedly ignored the fact that the room she¡¯d decided to use was her third choice, and the first one without any dark patterns on the wall and floors.


    (It¡¯s also the dustiest.) Her inner child whined as she was forced to sneeze.


    ¡°Maybe, but since we¡¯re going to be here awhile we need to get this place as close to useable as we can.¡± She reminded herself, sweeping another pile of dust and trash to the side before picking up a rag from a bucket filled with dark water. ¡°Ugh, need to throw this out again.¡±


    She¡¯d lucked out in the fact that after a decade the hospital still had some water in the pipes after the last decade, even if it was too stagnant to actually drink, it was still good enough to help her clean the place. Though this of course meant she had to carry the bucket back and forth from the windows to the bathroom and her chosen base, which happened to be a distance from both.


    ¡°This would be so much easier if we could just gather the water in the air or some shit.¡± She cursed hauling another bucket around.


    (That sounds a few steps out of our current level right now¡­)


    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Maybe once we crack the cold we could figure out how to use the heat and that to condense water from the air somewhere and then run it to our lab.¡± She thought out, whispers already hinting at how to jump that gap.


    (That sounds plausible.) Her inner reason admitted as she got back to cleaning up her new lab.


    (Ugh, how much longer are we going to do this?!) Her inner passion groaned in boredom.


    ¡°Until we have a workable space.¡± She told herself, ¡°And once we do we can get started on our first couple of base expansions.¡±


    She¡¯d managed to scrounge together enough supplies across the hospital from abandoned machines and computers that she¡¯d be able to make the absolute essentials of her base, as well as a few other bits and bobbles that would probably make her life easier, all things considered.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± She cursed as one of her bruises flared up when she wiped the counter at a bad angle. ¡°Argh¡­ I should¡¯ve known my first fight would end with me getting my ass kicked. I mean I can¡¯t even beat Izzy in a straight fight.¡±


    (Well, at least we kicked Decker¡¯s ass!) Her inner battle nut cheered.


    (While he was taking it easy on us.) Her inner logic saw fit to remind.


    ¡°Yeah, if we want to arrest him next time we¡¯re going to need a lot better equipment to do it.¡± She agreed.


    (We should also look up how Masks actually go about arresting people.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± She tried very hard not to think about just how embarrassing it was to be so thoroughly picked apart after the fight, the way he made it clear in no uncertain terms that she couldn¡¯t actually touch him legally speaking.


    (We should¡¯ve kneed him in the face while he was bent over.) Her inner child growled.


    (He might¡¯ve slapped us with assault if we did that.)


    (But we¡¯re the heroes!)


    (And he¡¯s apparently a very good lawyer.)


    (Gah! Fuck lawyers!)


    ¡°Come on, that¡¯s enough of that you two.¡± She told the voices in her head as they continued to bicker, giving her the beginnings of a headache. ¡°We¡¯ve got enough space cleared out now that we can probably manage a bit of simple tinkering, so long as we don¡¯t take it too far. So, let¡¯s figure out what we need most importantly, and get to work on that, okay?¡±


    (Fine.) Her inner passion agreed. (But only because we¡¯re going to build something kickass.)


    (Hmm¡­ What are you thinking we need right now?) Her inner logic wondered.


    ¡°Well, there are few things we could do with. A memory storage for any programs we don¡¯t need direct access to. We need to hobble together a power supply, though if we spend a few more of those parts we found we could probably turn it into something better functioning. And then there¡¯s setting up training equipment and defenses too¡­¡± She listed off before sighing. ¡°There¡¯s a lot to do, and we need to figure out where to start.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya has set up base at the abandoned Beacon Hospital and can now build upgrades for her base.


    --First one¡¯s free.


    -New upgrades available.


    -Certain upgrades have been made cheaper due to base location.


    -Maya is still recovering from her injuries leaving her Exhausted for an additional turn.

 Turn 19

    Turn 19


    --- Maya ---


    The next day unfortunately wasn¡¯t much better.


    She still had aches and pains from spending the day cleaning up her lab and setting up a half-way decent power station. While it wasn¡¯t the best she could think of, she was able to make a few modifications and rig a massive battery to run a stronger version of her Generator () program, giving her a solution to pretty much any power problems she could have outside of her COMP running dry in the field.


    (Which luckily wasn¡¯t a problem this time.) Her inner logic reminded.


    (Because we made efficient Dakka.) Her inner passion agreed.


    Shaking her head, she forced herself to sit up with a pained groan.


    ¡°Maya are you okay?¡±


    She blinked before realizing Izzy hadn¡¯t left for her morning run yet.


    ¡°Uh, yeah¡­ why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°Because you look even worse for wear than the last time you ran yourself into the ground.¡± Izzy told her bluntly.


    ¡°Eh, just¡­ Just pushed myself a little too hard the last few days.¡± She admitted with a half-hearted half-truth.


    Izzy gave her a look. ¡°Really because that looks like a really nasty bruise on your arm.¡±


    She glanced down, only now realizing that her sleeping shirt didn¡¯t cover up a visible bruise on her forearm from one of the numerous times she¡¯d been thrown around the night before last.


    ¡°Like I said, it¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡± She waved off her little sister¡¯s concerns. ¡°I ended up tripping and falling but given how it didn¡¯t even break skin I figure it¡¯s not that big of a deal.¡± She explained, bending the truth at several points.


    ¡°Just because it didn¡¯t break skin, doesn¡¯t mean you didn¡¯t hurt yourself.¡± Izzy scolded her. ¡°My martial arts classes give us all sorts of warnings about this kind of stuff!¡±


    ¡°Izzy, it¡¯s my forearm,¡± (and half my ribs) ¡°it¡¯s not like a bruise there is going to reach any of my organs.¡± She argued with a roll of her eyes.


    Izzy glared at her. ¡°The skin is an organ, and you bruised it.¡±


    (Ooh, and the middle schooler wins with fourth grade biology!)


    ¡°Shut up.¡± She told both her sister and the voice in her head. ¡°And it¡¯s nothing an ice pack and a day or two of rest won¡¯t fix up.¡±


    ¡°You need to take better care of yourself!¡± Izzy told her. ¡°This is the second time I¡¯ve had to tell you to do that!¡±


    ¡°Look I¡¯m a big girl, I can take care of myself, Iz.¡± She tried to assure her little sister.


    Izzy continued to frown at her. ¡°Maybe, but I¡¯m not letting you run or fight with me until you quit looking like you¡¯re going to fall to the wind.¡±


    She opened her mouth to protest, only for her inner reason to cut her off, saying, (it¡¯s honestly not the worst idea to take a break for a few days.)


    (But I don¡¯t wanna!) She whined to herself.


    (Yeah what she said!) Her inner child agreed.


    (I see what you did there, and it doesn¡¯t change anything.)


    (Good, because what you want doesn¡¯t change, what Izzy wants.)


    ¡°Fine¡­¡± She groaned, knowing she wasn¡¯t going to win against either her inner stubbornness or her equally stubborn little sister.


    ¡°Good.¡± Izzy nodded with hard look, or as hard as a middle schooler could manage at least.


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1XP to bluffing. (Lv. 1 (3/4))


    -Izzy won¡¯t help Maya train until her Health returns to [Good] at the minimum.


    -Grew a bit closer to Izzy


    ---


    Knowing Izzy was at least partially right about her need to take care of herself, she began pulling out various bits and pieces of equipment she¡¯d found while cleaning up the hospital.


    She¡¯d been toying around with a few ideas on what to do with the parts, and given it¡¯s originally intended purpose, figured repurposing them wouldn¡¯t be the worst way to use them.


    With the aid of the whispers she was able to tweak the bits of machinery she¡¯d taken, modifying and compressing them into a watch she¡¯d swiped from somewhere she couldn¡¯t quite recall. This watch would in turn monitor her heartrate, blood pressure, temperature, and a number of other parameters of her health and then filter them through her Scan () program to determine where she stood, letting her know when her health was beginning to fall into an uncomfortable level.


    (Such as right now, and how we¡¯re reading as in poor health.)


    (Ah, what does this watch know!)


    ¡°Everything we programmed it to?¡± She felt the need to point out, as she began to tweak the tech and her program so that she¡¯d be able to figure out other people¡¯s biometrics with a Scan (), something she was having trouble getting to work at a range for some reason.


    (It¡¯s fine we can figure it out later.) Her inner reason promised her. (Right now, we have another engagement to get to.)


    (That¡¯s right, it¡¯s game night!) Her inner passion cheered.


    ¡°Right, and it¡¯s our turn to pick too.¡± She nodded.


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya can now scan a person¡¯s general biometrics, and her watch passively reveals her own scans.


    -Software Upgrade: Scan () now shows general Health of a target, but only if Maya is touching them with her watch or COMP.


    -- 100% Very Good 80% Good 60% Fine 40% Poor 20% Very Poor 0% Critical -100% Dead


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    -New Upgrades Available


    ---


    Having finished her work on her scanning system, she went ahead and started making her way downstairs for sibling game night. But as she walked through the house she began to hear a disturbingly familiar song coming from the living room.


    ¡°That can¡¯t be¡­¡±


    As she made her way downstairs she saw Tommy showing Vi a video on his phone as they both sat on the living room couch, and from what she could hear of the video it really did sound like the song Decker had been playing throughout their fight a few nights prior.


    ¡°I¡­ What is that?¡± She asked, as Vi laughed at something in the video.


    ¡°Huh,¡± Tommy blinked just noticing her. ¡°Oh, this music guy I¡¯m following posted a fight between these two Masks down in the warehouse district a couple of nights ago.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh, and uh, who were the Masks involved?¡± She asked curiously more for show than anything else. Especially given how she was already pretty sure she knew who the Masks in the video were, as she watched herself pixelate one of Decker¡¯s blitz wolves.


    (I¡¯m really lucky my visor and the shifting lights hid my features.)


    ¡°Um, not sure who the girl is, but the guy is DJ Decker.¡± Tommy told her.


    She couldn¡¯t help but frown at the fact that Tommy already knew about Decker, despite the fact that she hadn¡¯t known he existed until the night she¡¯d met him. ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s this Deviant DJ that holds parties all over town,¡± Tommy explained. ¡°I¡¯ve never met him myself, but he¡¯s pretty big throughout the city¡¯s music scene. They say if he takes an interest in a musician he can make their career for the next decade.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so is he a rogue or something?¡± She pressed softly, wondering if her brother realized the Deviant musician was a known criminal.


    ¡°Or something¡­¡± Tommy admitted as he trailed off a bit.


    (Meaning he knows Decker ¡®s a gang member.) She thought just a little bitterly.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t really matter,¡± Vi cut in. ¡°What¡¯s important is the new Mask.¡±


    She blinked. ¡°Uh, what do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Right, Masks weren¡¯t really your thing, outside of video games.¡± Vi grumbled, before shaking her head. ¡°Anyway, Masks are usually a pretty big deal due to the fact they¡¯re the more¡­ active, members of the Deviant community.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ That doesn¡¯t really explain anything.¡± She admitted.


    Vi sighed. ¡°Okay, think of it like this. Deviants make up a little under one percent of the population, right? Well, about one percent of those become masks.¡±


    Her face scrunched up at that. ¡°But aren¡¯t two of the local gangs largely made of Deviants.¡±


    ¡°Sort of,¡± Tommy admitted, scratching the back of his head. ¡°But that¡¯s a little different.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the Deviants who become masks are typically the ones who make a sort of¡­ splash on the world.¡± Vi tried explaining. ¡°Normal Deviants have some small powers, making them no better than someone with a doctorate, a gun, or a guard dog. Masks on the other hand are¡­ symbols, be it good or bad.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ Um, can you explain that bit about symbols?¡± She asked, just a little worried.


    ¡°Alright, so you¡¯re too young to remember it, but the Rift Riots-¡±


    ¡°Which happened before any of us were born.¡± Tommy helpfully threw out there.


    Vi glared at him for a moment before turning back to her. ¡°Anyway, the Rift Riots were when Masks first came out, and in turn what led to the public outing of Deviants to the world.¡±


    ¡°Right, they covered all of this in history class.¡± She reminded them impatiently. ¡°Still doesn¡¯t explain the whole symbol thing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m getting to that.¡± Vi told her. ¡°These Masks were the first wave of heroes, rogues, and villains. And as such they came to represent the hope, peace, terror, and strife of the time. Something that has trended on every generation since.¡±


    ¡°Something that¡¯s covered in any modern history class.¡± Tommy informed her.


    ¡°Fuck off.¡± Vi told him with a slap to the arm.


    ¡°Okay¡­ I get most of what you¡¯re saying, but what does that have to do with some random new mask?¡± She wondered, because even with her (immense) intelligence she wasn¡¯t quite getting that part.


    ¡°Well, the way it usually works is that when a new Mask pops up, new ones pop up on both sides of the law, before things reach an equilibrium of sorts for a few years. At least until the next few Masks shake things up.¡± Tommy explained. ¡°The fact that we¡¯re getting new a Mask after having the same for the last four or five, means things are going to start changing for our city.¡±


    ¡°Which is why everyone is talking about this new Mask; they¡¯re wondering if she¡¯s going to shake things up for better or for worse.¡± Vi concluded.


    ¡°Huh¡­¡±


    (Well if that isn¡¯t a fuck ton of pressure.)


    ¡°Either way,¡± Tommy began, breaking her from her thoughts. ¡°Regardless of whether she¡¯s good or bad news, chica has got a mouth on her!¡±


    ¡°I know, right!¡± Vi agreed. ¡°Like every other word out of her mouth is a curse word!¡±


    (And this had gone from worrying to embarrassing real fast.) She thought feeling a bit of heat to her face as she heard herself cursing throughout the video depicting her unplanned Mask debut.


    She was honestly grateful that Decker had edited out the part where he tore her apart about the legality of her little raid and jumped straight from their fight to the point where she decked him.


    (Heh, we decked Decker.)


    Ignoring the insane voice in her head, she kept watching the video that trailed until just after Zylah¡¯s appearance, where she proceeded to knee Decker -which got a wince from Tommy- before giving the rogue an awkward wave, and booking it from the scene.


    (I¡¯m a little worried about what kind of reputation this will give us¡­)


    (An awesome one.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Consequence Revealed: Due to fight with Decker, Reputation throughout the city has begun to grow.


    -Grew a bit closer with Tommy and Vi


    ---


    ¡°Alright, now that everyone ¡®s here, what are we playing Maya?¡± Tommy asked, holding the squirming Seamus in place.


    She paced in front of her siblings, before declaring that, ¡°Today we¡¯re playing a strategy game!¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ Uh, which strategy game?¡± Vi glanced around a bit. ¡°I¡¯m not seeing any board games or anything.¡±


    ¡°King of the Masquerade.¡± She revealed, turning the TV on to show the game was already loaded and ready to play.


    ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t think that one has co-op?¡± Tommy reminded her. ¡°I mean we can play, but it¡¯ll take forever for each of us to get our own turn.¡±


    ¡°Not if one of us plays off the system in our room.¡± Izzy pointed out. ¡°But even then we can¡¯t really play together.¡±


    ¡°Actually, they just patched in cross-play.¡± She told them happily.


    ¡°So, what two of us take turns on one, and the other two on the other one?¡± Vi asked, ¡°I mean I don¡¯t think Seamus can really play this one.¡±


    ¡°Wha? But I want to play!¡± Seamus shouted indignantly.


    ¡°You can.¡± Maya told him, handing him her phone with a children¡¯s learning game set to it. ¡°But since you¡¯re the smallest you¡¯ve got to play on here.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so what, older siblings versus younger siblings?¡± Tommy asked taking the remote controller off of the table.


    ¡°Nope, four-player versus.¡± She told him.


    ¡°But there¡¯s only two sys-¡± Tommy began, only to stop as she pulled out her and Vi¡¯s laptop with the game already set to run.


    ¡°Wait, how did you get my computer?¡± Vi demanded. ¡°Did you go in my room again?!¡±


    ¡°Better question is how she got on your computer.¡± Izzy pointed out.


    ¡°All of your passwords are laughably easy.¡± She informed her siblings bluntly.


    ¡°Uh, does that mean I get to go back upstairs?¡± Izzy asked, leaning away from their growling elder sister. ¡°You two are the only ones with your own laptops.¡±


    ¡°I could always go on the family¡¯s old desktop, but since we don¡¯t have this game installed, it¡¯ll be a couple of hours.¡± Tommy offered.


    ¡°No need. I¡¯ve already got it covered.¡± She told them dragging the TV from her room out from behind the couch, once more with the game ready to run.


    ¡°When did you put that there?¡± Izzy wondered looking behind the couch and back at the TV.


    ¡°Between this scene and the last.¡± She admitted tossing Izzy the controller. ¡°I¡¯ve already got all four of them set to go against each other, you¡¯ve just got to choose your factions.¡±


    ¡°Okay, in that case¡­ I call Stylish Sounds.¡± Tommy told them, quickly selecting the music-oriented faction.


    ¡°Arcane Arcanum!¡± Vi called, choosing the faction of spell casters.


    ¡°Traitorous Travelers!¡± Izzy declared, picking the group of inhuman travelers.


    ¡°Laborious Laboratories!¡± She shouted, as she of course took M.A.D. faction.


    Scene Consequences


    -Inspiration: Price of low-level minion upgrades has been decreased.


    -Grown a bit closer to the family.

 Turn 20

    Turn 20


    --- Maya ---


    Knowing that her prototype Bio-pod had finished cooking, -she pointedly refused to think of it as ¡®growing¡¯- she needed to sneak it out of her house and into her lab before one of her family members stumbled upon it.


    And since she was already secreting away something to her new lab, she felt it wouldn¡¯t hurt to also take a few busted electronics that while lying around, had yet to be stored away just yet, due to their various owners¡¯ stubbornness about replacing them.


    Something she felt she was helping with by taking them off their hands.


    (We are really doing mental gymnastics to justify stealing.)


    ¡°It¡¯s not stealing, it¡¯s just recycling¡­ without permission.¡± She explained.


    (You¡¯re really making me earn my keep here.) Her inner logic told her.


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (D6 = 4) Electronics


    ---


    ¡°Okay, so¡­ I don¡¯t think we actually know jack shit about biology¡­¡± She pointed out to the voices in her head.


    (Really, because I figured after all of that smut we at least understood that babies happen when-)


    ¡°Shut up!¡± She shouted, cutting her more immature side off.


    (Quite¡­) Her inner logic agreed. (Especially given the¡­ anatomical inaccuracies of that bit of¡­ research material.)


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant and you both know it!¡± She growled, as she connected the technological parts of her bio-pod to her laptop as she set up the basic program to actually make use of said bio-pod.


    (I think the fact that our little cooker, does nature¡¯s growing ten times faster, says we do in fact know the basics of biology.) Her inner passion told them.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m not arguing we¡¯re a genius, because come on, you can¡¯t argue that.¡± She agreed humbly. ¡°But seriously what do we actually know how to grow with this thing?¡± She asked, gesturing to the ugly bit of flesh and metal sitting on her lab table.


    (Uh, well¡­ what about those healing herbs we read about?) Her inner wild thing remembered. (Those might help with that one rib that hurts every time we breathe.)


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡±


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    (Or we could try growing our own fodder for our organic experiments, that way we don¡¯t have to keep going to the forest to collect foliage.) Her inner logic pointed out.


    ¡°What kind of fodder would we even use?¡± She wondered listening to the faint whispers in her head for advice. ¡°Grass grown super-fast?¡±


    (That is what fodder usually is nowadays.)


    (No, fodder is the minions you don¡¯t mind letting die a horrifically painful death.) Her inner insanity argued.


    ¡°It¡¯s both.¡± She told them, typing up the basic genetics of all herbal life as she decided which direction she was going to finish the program.


    Scene Consequences


    -New Program: Biology Interface ()


    --A Program that allows Maya to use her Bio-Pods, can currently only manipulate simple plant life. (Upgrades will unlock as we improve Biology.)


    --*Skill Rank Up* Reality Hacking: Lv. 4 (0/10)


    -Gained 1 Bio-Pod (Small)


    -Can now set Bio-Pod (Small) to a project. (First one¡¯s free, next one will cost Organics.)


    ---


    Having set her bio-pod to grow her first real truly organic experiment, she decided to go ahead and return home early that day.


    And as she made her way home, she remembered something that she hadn¡¯t quite realized at the time. ¡°Hey, when I was fighting Decker, where were the two of you?¡±


    (What do you mean?)


    ¡°I mean, at first you guys were there telling me what I should do, and then out of nowhere you two sort of just quieted down.¡± She explained, ¡°So, what happened?¡±


    (Hmm, I¡¯m not sure¡­) Her inner logic admitted. (We were here, and I remember everything that happened, but at the same time I don¡¯t remember saying much of anything or feeling the need to for that matter.)


    ¡°Okay, but why didn¡¯t you feel like talking?¡±


    (Because you were focused.) Her inner passion answered.


    ¡°Focused?¡±


    (Yeah, we¡¯re pieces of you so obviously, we represent the different mental tracks you¡¯ve got running at any given time.) Her inner insanity explained with surprising clarity. (When you¡¯re actually focused on one thing, it probably takes away whatever mental processing power lets us run in the background.)


    ¡°That¡¯s uh¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t quite articulate a response.


    (I¡­ I suppose that¡¯s plausible.) Her inner logic attempted.


    (What?) Her inner madness asked indignantly. (We¡¯re a hundred percent genius, why do I have to keep reminding you two about that?)


    (Because you¡¯re not usually so¡­ informative.) Her inner reason pointed out as delicately as she could.


    ¡°I um¡­ My bus is here.¡± She told herself, desperate to change her mind onto a more understandable topic.


    (You do know you can¡¯t actually run away from us right?)


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya understands the voices in her head a little better.


    ---


    After making her way back to her house, Maya paused as she set her things down in her room, her eyes drifting to the (beautiful) bed just laying there without a care in the world.


    ¡°You know what? I think I¡¯m going to go ahead and crash.¡± She told her other selves.


    (That¡¯s reasonable.) Her inner logic agreed. (We could use a rest, after these last few weeks.)


    (Time for sleepy time junction¡­)


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya¡¯s passive healing has doubled for the evening.


    --Maya has gone from Poor Health to Fair Health.

 Turn 21

    Turn 21


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Okay, so what¡¯s wrong with the car?¡± She asked, watching her father -who was not known for his mechanical prowess- working under the hood of the family car.


    ¡°I don¡¯t actually know.¡± Her dad admitted. ¡°The car isn¡¯t starting, but there¡¯s this sort of clicking sound whenever I try to get it running. So, I¡¯m hoping I can figure it out with a few searches on my phone.¡±


    She eyed the car for a moment, part of her remembering how she fixed Tommy¡¯s amp the week before. (I mean it wouldn¡¯t hurt to look.)


    ¡°If you want I can take a look at it.¡± She offered, tying her hair back into a pony tail to keep it out of her way.


    Her dad gave her a look. ¡°And how do you know more about cars than me?¡±


    ¡°I was looking into some engineering stuff for a project, so I got a basic idea about a couple of things.¡± She admitted, not telling him the actual details of said project involving creating a horde of mechanical minions to fight on her behalf. (Just need to make a prototype minion to kick it off¡­)


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re a smart kid. So, I guess as long as you don¡¯t actually break anything, it won¡¯t do any more harm.¡± Her father agreed, giving her a chance.


    ¡°Just wait and see. I fixed Tommy¡¯s amp just last week.¡± She told him, taking a look under the hood.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure a guitar amp and a car engine are about as far as you can get from each other.¡± Her father told her with a wry grin.


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± She nodded, trying to get something out of her whispers as she stared into the car that she understood nothing about. ¡°Hey, do you think you can turn the car off and on? I¡¯m thinking it¡¯ll help me see what¡¯s wrong.¡±


    ¡°Sure, thing sweetheart.¡± Her father agreed moving into the driver¡¯s seat.


    Remembering, the difficulty she¡¯d had getting the whispers to help her with her brother¡¯s amp, she leaned in a bit closer than was probably safe waiting for her father to try and start the car.


    As he did so she heard a faint rumbling and several clicking sounds, that only the faintest of whispers were willing to give her anything about. And while it wasn¡¯t enough to let her repurpose one car part for another, it did give her a couple of ideas on what the problem could be.


    ¡°Hold on, turn it off for a second!¡± She called.


    Waiting for the car to turn off, she checked the car fluids, and while it came out darker than she thought it was supposed to be, several of the whispers died off confirming that this wasn¡¯t the actual problem. So, listening to the few that remained, she checked a few other things around the car, before finding a wire that was connected to the battery had come loose.


    ¡°Okay, I think I found the problem!¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Her dad asked a little surprised.


    ¡°Just give me a second.¡± She told him, moving to her dad¡¯s -largely unused- tool box.


    ¡°Uh, what are you doing?¡± He asked watching her.


    ¡°Fixing your problem.¡± She admitted, picking up a small wrench she hadn¡¯t bothered stealing for her own projects, before returning to the car to tighten the wire¡¯s bolt.


    ¡°Uh, sweetie, I appreciate the effort but are you sure you-¡±


    ¡°And done! Turn the car on!¡± She told him flipping the hood shut.


    Giving her a concerned look, her dad decided to give her a chance and tried turning the car on again. And unlike the times prior when it had merely responded with a clicking, this time the car roared to life.


    ¡°Ha! It¡¯s working good as new!¡± Her father laughed, stepping out of the car.


    ¡°Yeah, it was just a few wires on the circuit board that came loose.¡± She explained wiping her hands off on her jeans. ¡°Also, I think the oil is due for a change, and you might want to get the radiator looked at, because the car fluid was looking a little dark.¡± She listed, trying to remember everything the whispers had told her.


    Her dad blinked. ¡°Huh¡­ you really do know more about cars than I do.¡±


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    She smiled. ¡°I¡¯m the smart kid, remember?¡±


    Her father gave her a snort of amusement, before pulling out his wallet. ¡°Well, since you fixed the car, I think you deserve a little something.¡±


    ¡°Uh, dad, you don¡¯t have to do that.¡± She told him shaking her head. ¡°Everyone needs the car, so there¡¯s no reason I wouldn¡¯t fix it.¡±


    ¡°Still you saved me a couple of hundred by fixing this, so paying you a little bit isn¡¯t going to hurt.¡± Her father insisted.


    ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re still going to have to take it to the shop to fix that other stuff.¡± She reminded him.


    ¡°Maybe, but I can almost guarantee they would¡¯ve charge me five times as much to do whatever you just did.¡± Her father told her handing a twenty. ¡°So, take this as a thanks for saving me the difference.¡±


    ¡°Mm, I guess¡­¡± She reluctantly conceded.


    ¡°That¡¯s my girl.¡± Her father smiled as he ruffled her hair. ¡°Now why don¡¯t we take this for a drive and grab everyone lunch? Since you fixed the car you can pick were we pick up from.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but sigh as she made her way towards the passenger side. ¡°Sure, why not?¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 20 dollars.


    -Upgrades unlocked down the line.


    -Grown a bit closer to dad.


    ---


    Seeing how she was once more making a trip to the hospital for another one of her projects, she decided that there would be no harm in swiping any electronics or mechanical bits her various neighbors had left out on the curb.


    (Or rather kicking them open and swiping the best bits when no one is looking.)


    ¡°Don¡¯t judge me, I¡¯m going to be a hero one day!¡±


    (And right now, you¡¯re stealing other people¡¯s trash.)


    ¡°I said don¡¯t judge me!¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (D6=5) Electronics


    ---


    Setting down her haul, she rolled her shoulders, and while the majority of injuries had healed that didn¡¯t change the fact that she was still filled with a number of aches and pains from when Decker¡¯s summons had tossed her around.


    ¡°We really should do something about that¡­¡± She admitted.


    (Yes, well those experimental herbs won¡¯t be ready for another two days.) Her inner logic reminded her.


    ¡°No, I mean we need defenses, something to protect ourselves in a fight. Anything would be better than the hoodie we¡¯re wearing.¡± She explained picking up a few bits of plastic and metal and taking them to her lab table.


    (And what are you thinking?)


    ¡°Just a basic bit of armor we can wear under our jacket.¡± She figured, warming up her tools and Alchemy () program. ¡°It won¡¯t do much for our defenses, but like I said something is better than nothing.¡±


    (Ooh, and this is the first step towards our costume!) Her inner child agreed excitedly.


    (Hm, wouldn¡¯t our headset count as our first step?)


    (No, that was the first step towards our mask.) Her inner passion disagreed. (Besides, it just covers our eyes right now. If our family ever ran into us in costume they¡¯d know it was us right away!)


    ¡°That¡¯s a good a point.¡± She admitted, shaping the metal and plastic into a set of bracers for her forearms. ¡°We¡¯ll have to fix that before we start patrolling. I mean we probably won¡¯t run into the fam, but it¡¯s better safe than sorry.¡±


    (I suppose that¡¯s reasonable.)


    (Yeah, and we can trick it out with all sorts of features like a re-breather, a voice changer, and all sorts of stuff!)


    ¡°Those are good ideas, but it might take us a minute to set any of that up¡­¡± She told her more excitable self, as she began shaping some of the metal and plastic to fit her chest. All the while wondering how the whispers got her sizes.


    (Eh, they¡¯re in here too.) The voice in her head metaphorically shrugged.


    ¡°Still it sounds like they¡¯ve got me down to the millimeter which even I didn¡¯t know.¡± She pointed out, ¡°And I didn¡¯t even know what my forearm measured out too!¡± She added snapping the perfectly snug bracer onto her arm to underline said point.


    (I don¡¯t know. How do they know the math necessary to generate raw heat and electricity?)


    (She has you there.) Her inner logic agreed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it says anything good that the voices in my head can out argue me.¡± She told them plainly.


    (Nonsense.) Her inner reason argued. (It merely proves that your mind is filled with nothing but intelligent thoughts.)


    (And smut, let¡¯s not forget the smut.)


    (Yes, but smut is the smart woman¡¯s porn.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Crit Used: 1 Scrap and 1 Plastic Refunded.


    -Maya now has a basic set of Armor reducing [Physical] damage by a small amount.


    --Armor is a set of simple bracers, a chest guard, and kneepads.


    -New Upgrades Available


    ---


    Once home, she once more felt the siren¡¯s call of her bed.


    (You know we are injured still¡­) Her inner reason pointed out. (It wouldn¡¯t hurt to take a couple of more days off.)


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± She admitted, unable to keep her eyes off her bed.


    (Just go to sleep already.)


    ¡°But I don¡¯t wanna!¡± She whined.


    (Yes, you do, you¡¯re struggling to keep your eyes open.)


    She pawed at her eyes. ¡°But there¡¯s still stuff we can do today¡­¡±


    (We¡¯re already back at the house, and everyone else is getting ready for bed. So, not really.)


    ¡°Mm, fine¡­¡± She groaned, making her way to her bed.


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya¡¯s passive healing has doubled for this turn.*


    *A/N: I¡¯ll go ahead and say as long as we don¡¯t take damage, Maya will be at [Good] health by the end of next turn regardless of what we do next turn.

 Turn 22

    Turn 22


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Ugh, why am I the one who has to go school shopping?¡± She whined, as she followed her mother through the first checkout of three different stores.


    ¡°Because you¡¯re older than Izzy and Seamus.¡± Her mother explained in that way that explained nothing at all.


    ¡°So are Tommy and Vi.¡± She pointed out.


    ¡°Yes, but Vi is at college and buys her own supplies each semester, and Tommy is helping your father at work today. Which leaves you.¡± Her mother (actually) explained.


    ¡°Being the middle child sucks.¡± She told her mom after a moment of thought.


    Her mother gave her a snort of amusement. ¡°I¡¯m sure it does.¡±


    As they walked out of the store, Maya couldn¡¯t help but voice a question she¡¯d been wondering. ¡°Why exactly are we going to three different stores? I mean can¡¯t we buy all of this crap at a single shopping center?¡±


    ¡°We could.¡± Her mother admitted. ¡°But we¡¯d be missing out on a number of back to school sells, on clothing, shoes, backpacks, and so on.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh, and shouldn¡¯t everyone be here to get their own clothes and shoes?¡± She asked. ¡°You know make sure everything fits the way it¡¯s supposed to.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m buying everything a couple of sizes bigger than what you all wear now, so you can grow into it.¡± Her mother explained, before giving her a look as they began to load the school supplies into the trunk of the car. ¡°It also means I only have to drag one of you through the stores, which is honestly all I have the patience for.¡±


    ¡°Ay, pobrecita.¡± Her mother said with false compassion, before quickly dropping it. ¡°Look at it this way, your brother and sister were in the same position just last year. This is just you paying your dues.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, that doesn¡¯t do much for me, since I¡¯m the one getting screwed here.¡± She admitted with a straight face as her mother closed the car trunk.


    Rolling her eyes, her mother climbed into the car¡¯s driver seat. ¡°Look if it¡¯ll make you feel better, I won¡¯t ask for your help prepping for Seamus¡¯s play group this week.¡±


    ¡°Yay, no cooking.¡± She cheered matching her mother¡¯s previous sarcasm as she got into the passenger¡¯s seat. ¡°Now I¡¯ve just got to con one of the boys into doing laundry and I¡¯ll have the day off.¡±


    ¡°Eres la hija de tu madre.¡± Her mother laughed with a shake of her head as she started the car.


    ¡°Damn straight.¡± She agreed with a grin.


    It wasn¡¯t for a few more minutes before something important occurred to her. ¡°Uh, mam¨¢?¡±


    ¡°Yes, corazoncita?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Seamus¡¯s play group usually today?¡±


    Her mother froze, before hitting her head on the steering wheel.


    ¡°?Ah, ching¨¢!¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to mom.


    ---


    ¡°Okay, so I need you to watch Seamus and his friends while I take care of the school shopping.¡± Her mother had told her. ¡°Just leave Missy outside, the other parents get a little antsy with their kids around big dogs.¡±


    ¡°But I can¡¯t watch five toddlers by myself.¡± She had argued.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry the other parents will be there if you need help.¡± Her mother had assured her. ¡°Just put something animated on and it¡¯ll be an easy hour.¡±


    Her mother had lied.


    Almost as soon as the other parents had shown up, and found out there would be no food, they¡¯d ditched their kids on her as a free babysitter and booked it to wherever they were all at. Meanwhile she was stuck running around trying to keep up with five hangry and bored toddlers, all wondering where their parents were and- ¡°I¡¯m never going into childcare.¡±


    (Well look at the bright side, at least Seamus isn¡¯t giving us any problems.)


    She glanced away from what she was doing to see Seamus was sitting their happily playing with a toy car, unlike the rest of the screaming children.


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    (That¡¯s because he¡¯s a little angel, unlike the rest of these filthy demons!)


    ¡°They¡¯re kids that¡¯s a bit of an over exaggeration.¡± She told herself, as she continued making the kids lunch.


    As if to prove her wrong, she heard something break in the background.


    (Still think that?)


    ¡°Shut up.¡± She sighed, regretting a number of choices.


    When the parents finally began to show up she looked them dead in the eye and said. ¡°You were gone two hours I charge ten an hour.¡±


    Of course, there were protests at first, at least until she reminded them how easy it would be to convince her mother to take Seamus out of the playgroup now that he¡¯d be starting pre-school and would no longer need it. Leaving all of said parents with an extra night each week where they have to watch their own kids.


    Said parents quickly reached for their wallets.


    And while her mother was pissed about what the kids had broken, she was proud Maya managed to extor-(Ahem.)- persuade, the parents into paying for it.


    Doubly so that she also made a profit off of them.


    Scene Consequences


    -Made 40 dollars after replacing what the kids broke.*


    -Gained 1XP to Cooking.


    -Grown a bit closer to Seamus.


    *A/N: Originally I was going to give you twenty bucks for both of these scenes but this works too.


    ---


    Plastic while not as durable as most metals, was a significantly lighter material to work with, as well as an easier one thanks to her Alchemy () program.


    Unfortunately, it was also a fair bit harder to get a hold of in a useable quantity.


    (What about all of these bottles we¡¯re swiping from the recycling bins?)


    (I said in a useable quantity.) Her inner reason pointed out. (It takes a good two or three dozen water bottles to make a single useable unit of plastic, and given how hard it is to carry that many around inconspicuously¡­)


    (Right, that¡¯s fair.) Her inner child conceded. (But what are we going to do with all of this plastic? We only have one blueprint that uses it right now.)


    ¡°Technically we have three.¡± She felt the need to point out. ¡°Our visor, our armor, and our face mask.¡±


    (Okay, but we built two of those and one of them is an upgrade to the former.)


    (She¡¯s not wrong.)


    ¡°Well, maybe we¡¯ll use it to upgrade our armor again, or I don¡¯t know¡­ I¡¯ll come up with an invention for it eventually, and then we¡¯ll be glad I have it.¡±


    (Until then we¡¯ll continue to raid our neighbors recycling bins like a starved racoon.)


    (We have a little more dignity that that.)


    ¡°Uh, little miss?¡±


    She froze like a (racoon in the porch) light, before slowly turning towards an old man with a trash bag in his hand.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡±


    (Point made.)


    Scene Consequences


    -New Gathering Spot Unlocked: Maya will now raid people¡¯s recycling bins when she needs plastic*.


    --A/N: I¡¯m going to be honest, if you guys hadn¡¯t written it in, I wouldn¡¯t have come up with a Plastic gathering spot for a good while.


    -Gathered (D6/2=2) Plastic*


    --A/N: Also, since this was a ¡®rare¡¯ resource given the quantity needed to do anything, it has a reduced drop rate until we find a better source. (No, you can¡¯t write that one in.)


    ---


    Having set her all of her -embarrassingly- gathered plastic to be cleaned and melted down by her Alchemy (), she decided that she was done doing all of the minion work. And since no one with any self-respect would work for a teenager free, she was going make one.


    Hence the small dog sized spider drone on her lab table.


    (You have to go with the classics.)


    Now admittedly, this drone wasn¡¯t necessarily the smartest, given how she¡¯d essentially copy and pasted her Simple AI after modifying it to have a body and no wi-fi access, which was actually a fairly easy task given her growing skill with programming.


    ¡°Right, creating an AI with the intelligence of a trained dog is easy.¡± She growled, as she finished the program¡¯s upload into her drone.


    (To be fair we did it in a scene devoted to something else.)


    ¡°And done.¡± She told the voices in her head as she began disconnecting wires from her newly finished drone minion. ¡°Come on, wakey, wakey.¡±


    She leaned in front of the Drone¡¯s camera lens eye, before smiling as it flashed on with a red glow. ¡°?Eso es!¡±


    The drone shook a little before locking its gaze onto her, and¡­ doing nothing else.


    (Why isn¡¯t it doing anything?)


    (He have to give it something to do.)


    ¡°Oh, right, right. Mm¡­¡± She glanced around the lab getting a simple idea. ¡°Explore the lab, but don¡¯t leave it.¡±


    The drone gave her a little nod before walking to the edge of the table and hopping onto the ground a few feet below it. Leaving her to excitedly watch as the drone stumbled around the lab-


    ¡°Ooh, this so cool! Think of all the good we can do with this little guy!¡±


    -before getting in a fight with a rat, ripping it to shreds, and then looking to her for approval.


    (We¡¯re totally going to be responsible for Skynet.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya has built her first Mechanical Minion: Drone Minion One or (Demon for short)


    -New Program: Drone Minion Protocols () This program is the core foundation behind all drone minion operations.


    -New Upgrades Available.


    -Some Upgrades have had their costs reduced.


    Minion Tutorial


    Minions can be given various tasks to accomplish in Maya¡¯s place. And though they aren¡¯t quite as good at their tasks as her Mechanical Minions can be upgraded to better do a job they were already capable of.


    If there are any idle minions, they can be assigned a task alongside our turn choices.

 Turn 23

    Turn 23


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Huh, you¡¯re actually keeping up today.¡± Izzy admitted with no small amount of surprise.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, soon enough I won¡¯t be getting my ass kicked by a twelve-year-old!¡± She declared, just before once more getting her ass kicked by said twelve-year-old.


    While her fight with Decker and his various summons had helped her figure out a number of things about fighting with and without her Hand Cannons, such as learning how important her endurance was as well as how to push through a certain level of pain, it unfortunately hadn¡¯t done much for her actual hand to hand skills.


    In fact, the primary reason she was doing as well as she was, was less because she was better at fighting so much as it was she was better at avoiding and taking a hit. A fundamental skill that pushed her fighting ability from ¡®lasts one minute against Izzy¡¯ to ¡®lasts five minutes against Izzy.¡¯


    Not a big gap on paper, but¡­


    (One hell of a gap in reality.) She noted as she caught Izzy finally breaking a sweat from fighting her.


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to Izzy gained 3XP to Fighting


    --Currently: Lv. 4 (4/10)


    ---


    Knowing that she was going to be taking a trip to her base anyway, she made a detour through her family¡¯s basement, collecting what bits and pieces she could before making a second detour around the nearby neighborhoods to see if anyone else was throwing anything else out.


    And thanks to her MAP() she was able to find a broken laptop that while turned off, was still picking up wi-fi with what little power it still had.


    (If only we didn¡¯t have to literally dig through a dumpster to find it.)


    ¡°We¡¯ve still got soap and water at the hospital, I¡¯ll try and clean up some there¡­¡± She told herself, trying very hard not to think about the way her skin was crawling because of the (filth.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (D6=5) Electronics


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ---


    Given what she¡¯d learned after setting up her drone¡¯s AI, she decided to go ahead and give her digital AI an intelligence boost based on the same upgrades.


    Admittedly transferring this from physical interactions to digital ones was a bit of a hassle, but with the bits of experience and inspiration she¡¯d picked up here and there the task didn¡¯t even take her a full day to complete.


    Meaning her AI minion was now capable of performing up to five different tasks each time she sent it out.


    (Glad to see murder bot didn¡¯t scare you off of working with AI.)


    ¡°He¡¯s not a murder bot.¡±


    (And what exactly did you name him?)


    ¡°Drone Minion One, or DM-1 if we¡¯re shortening it down.¡±


    (Huh, that almost spells Demon.) Her inner insanity mused smugly. (Fits.)


    ¡°It¡¯s not a demon.¡± She growled at herself.


    (The first thing it did when we set it loose was murder something.)


    ¡°It was defending the lab.¡± She argued.


    (Sure, it was.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Simple AI V1.2: Can now perform up to 5 different actions in a single send off.


    ---


    Deciding to prove her inner child wrong, -(Or is that right, since we always wanted a pet robot?)- She hid DM-1 in her backpack and took him to the trainyard on her way back to her house.


    After setting the drone on the ground and turning it on, she began pointing the metal around her. ¡°Okay, now what I want you to do is gather any useable metal and drag over here into this train car.¡± She gestured towards the train car she¡¯d broken open. ¡°Can you do that?¡±


    The drone stared at her for a moment before looking towards the car. It stood still before suddenly running off to a nearby pile of junk and pulling out a warped piece of metal that it began dragging towards the car.


    True she could¡¯ve done it in a fifth of the time it took DM-1, but¡­


    ¡°Yeah, okay. This can work.¡± She nodded watching DM-1 store the metal before running off to gather more.


    (Do you think we should set it to nocturnal?) Her inner reason eventually asked.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    (Well, if it works during the day it might be spotted by someone.) Her inner logic pointed out.


    ¡°Maybe, but since it¡¯s just him odds are he won¡¯t attract attention. At least not as much as a swarm of drones would anyway.¡± She argued. ¡°Besides, if he only worked at night he wouldn¡¯t be able to gather nearly as much scrap for us.¡±


    (Point, but in truth this merely boils down to a matter of risk vs reward.)


    ¡°True¡­ but we aren¡¯t really at risk of one drone drawing attention.¡± She felt the need to reiterate. ¡°Not as long as we pick him back up in the next week or so.¡±


    (Either way, it¡¯s something worth considering.)


    ¡°I guess¡­¡±


    [X]-It¡¯d be safer to have DM-1 only scavenge at night so people are less likely to spot him.


    []-We should have DM-1 gathering at all hours, since he¡¯s just one drone the risk isn¡¯t that high.


    Scene Consequences


    -Drone will gather a small amount of this location¡¯s resource each day until we come back to collect it, but it has a small chance of being found if we leave it alone for too long.


    -New Upgrades Available

 Turn 24

    Turn 24


    --- Maya ---


    She leapt away from Izzy¡¯s punch, before trying to move in and deliver one of her own.


    Of course, Izzy actually having a fair more experience fighting, was able to block and deflect the blow, before grabbing Maya¡¯s arm and throwing her onto the ground.


    ¡°Ow¡­¡± She groaned.


    ¡°You¡¯d think at some point you¡¯d figure out to pullback after a jab.¡± Izzy critiqued as she laid there.


    ¡°You¡¯d think at some point you¡¯d show mercy and quit throwing me.¡± She argued.


    Izzy seemed to think about it for a moment before shaking her head. ¡°Nah, I need the workout throwing you around gives. Got to build those muscles up you know.¡±


    ¡°Screw you.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to Izzy gained 3XP to fighting


    --Currently: Lv. 4 (7/10)


    ---


    Seeing how she had a fair amount of time before her bus arrived at the hospital, she pulled out her cell phone and began looking up something she¡¯d been wondering about ever since Decker decimated her with his legal expertise.


    (¡°How do Masks work?¡±)


    It took her a few tries to work through the bs of people explaining how to put on increasingly complicated ¡®masks¡¯ before she¡¯d eventually managed to pull up a few pages on what she was actually looking for.


    (Alright, let¡¯s see¡­)


    Based on the information she was reading Heroic Masks were still considered something of a legal grey area. The reason for this being said Masks ability to produce evidence and testimony for proper police action after the fact without compromising their own identities.


    Due to this, most independent heroes were forced into more of a reactionary role when dealing with crime. Only truly producing viable arrests when saving someone who was themselves willing to produce testimony against their attackers, or in stopping Villainous Masks who were attacking a public location, in which case there was usually a notable amount of witnesses. There was also the rare instance of a criminal having an outstanding warrant, though those seemed to be much rarer than TV would have one believe.


    (Meaning if any of the people Decker¡¯s people were forcing to fight, had stayed behind then we might¡¯ve been able to arrest him.) She commented silently, not caring for any stares she may¡¯ve received from the various other bus passengers.


    (But then they would¡¯ve had to fend off the various Guild grunts who probably didn¡¯t want them sticking around.) Her inner passion reminded her.


    (And in all likelihood any charges they could aid would¡¯ve been against whichever guild member forced them into the fight. Not Decker himself.) Her logic reminded.


    (You¡¯re¡­ probably right.) She admitted reluctantly as she fell into a contemplative silence.


    (If Masks have so much trouble producing arrests, then how come we always hear about heroes arresting the bad guys?)


    (Good question.)


    After a bit more reading she found that most of these heroes were either a part of the Hero¡¯s Guild or one of Sanctuary¡¯s Agents. As such they themselves could be used as a witness, due to the Agent¡¯s status as law enforcement officers, and the Guild vouching for their heroes, who had to provide their identity to at least three different heroes and officials within the organization to join.


    (Well, since they¡¯re the good guys I wouldn¡¯t mind if they knew who I was.)


    (What about Sanctuary, we¡¯re not really considering those assholes are we?)


    (No. Besides I think they have an age restriction on anyone joining so that means we couldn¡¯t join them even if we wanted to.) Which meant her actual options were remaining independent, which meant she was stuck reacting to crime rather than actually doing something about it. Or joining the guild¡­ Which while she wasn¡¯t particularly against, meant she¡¯d have to work for someone else, with a chain of command enacted by that.


    (Alright¡­ What do we actually know about the hero¡¯s guild?) She asked herself. (Beyond the fact that fight crime and the heroes that are in it.)


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    (Well the guild typically has at least one base in every major city, though smaller cities sometimes share a base. -I think it has something to do with local Deviant to Mask populations.- Oh, and unlike Sanctuary they do have a mentorship program for younger heroes, preferably with people who have similar Deviancies to help them grow. Though regardless of benefits I believe parental consent is required for underaged heroes to join.)


    (Lame.) Her inner child booed.


    (Agreed. Lame.)


    She had no intention of letting her family know she was a Mask. (At least until we¡¯re a successful big-time hero that they have to be proud of.)


    ¡°Yeah, until then.¡± She nodded as the bus pulled up to her stop.


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1XP to Law.


    --Currently: Lv.2 (1/6)


    ---


    Stretching as she walked into her lab, she walked over to her computer and began working on another upgrade for her AI. Given how she could now direct it to do a fair number of tasks, she needed to make sure it had enough power behind it to do what she wanted without her having to provide direct oversight.


    After all there was only so much she could actually do with her AI only being able to hack cell phones.


    (You know I¡¯m not sure giving the AI more power is necessarily a good idea.) Her inner paranoia warned.


    ¡°It¡¯s a simple AI.¡± She told herself with an eyeroll. ¡°It¡¯s not like the thing can do anything without me giving it specific instructions. Honestly, it¡¯s less dangerous than a first-year script-kiddie.¡±


    (Haven¡¯t we only been doing this hacking thing for a year? And we¡¯ve hacked the government several times already.) Her inner insanity pointed out.


    (She does make a fair point¡­) Her inner reason reluctantly agreed.


    ¡°I said less dangerous.¡± She repeated.


    Scene Consequences


    -Simple AI V1.3 (): AI can now hack into computers with low level security. (Think house or personal computers.)


    ---


    ¡°You know, when we decided to explore the hospital some more, I didn¡¯t think we¡¯d choose the creepiest fucking part of it.¡± She growled, her COMP light passing through another padded room.


    (Yes¡­ This may¡¯ve been a miscalculation on our part.)


    (May¡¯ve been?) Her inner passion scoffed. (Try definitely was.)


    ¡°Look, we¡¯ve just got a few more corridors left and then we can say we made sure this wing was secure.¡± She told the voices in her head, trying very hard to ignore her own fear. ¡°Which isn¡¯t easy why you guys keep bringing up how scared you are.¡±


    (We are. You brought it up first.)


    There was the sound of footsteps running behind her.


    ¡°What was that?¡± She asked turning to the still empty corridor.


    (I don¡¯t know. And I don¡¯t want to know.)


    (Perhaps, it was our own footsteps echoing?)


    ¡°That rapidly?¡± She whispered, as she began backtracking, her eyes jumping between the numerous shadows around her. ¡°Is it me or was there more light when we came this way?¡±


    (Yeah, we need to bug the fuck out.)


    (I¡¯m sure it¡¯s just our imagination playing tricks on us.)


    A laugh echoed behind them, causing her to jump and turn once more.


    (Creepy laughter, yay!) Her inner insanity laughed just this side of hysterical.


    Her eyes darted around the illuminated hallway, before checking the mini map on her headset. ¡°Look, nothing¡¯s pinging on the mini-map so that means were alone down here.¡±


    (Maybe, but our map only detects machines giving off or picking up wi-fi.) Her inner reason -(unhelpfully)- pointed out. (That means, if this person tosses their cell phone, then we¡¯ve no method of actually tracking them right now.)


    (Uh-huh, interesting. Different question though, why are we following the creepy noises?) Her inner feeling asked, as she continued through the halls.


    ¡°Because we¡¯ve got to make sure this place is clear, especially with how much of our stuff we¡¯ve got here.¡± She explained, readying a burst of electricity in case anything tried to get the jump on her.


    (Really? Because I feel like we¡¯re the dumb idiot that gets killed off for not walking away.)


    The laughter returned, only this time it seemed to echo from all around.


    ¡°Hey! Who¡¯s there!¡± She shouted whirling around, trying to find the source of the sound in the dim lighting.


    (Okay, why the fuck don¡¯t we have night vision?) Her inner child panicked.


    (Because we didn¡¯t think that far ahead.) Her inner logic admitted.


    She caught sight of a figure down the hall, her vision quickly locking onto them as the light of her COMP began to dim.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± She called aiming her Hand Cannon at the figure as she inched forward. ¡°If you don¡¯t want any trouble you better stay where you are!¡±


    The laughter returned briefly; the source more readily apparent this time.


    (Oh, I don¡¯t like this¡­)


    As she neared close enough to see a smile on the figure¡¯s face, they began to flicker in and out of existence like a TV with poor signal.


    (Oh, I really don¡¯t like this¡­)


    A pale woman was inches from her face smiling wide with two glowing green eyes. ¡°whY ShOulD i?!¡±


    The light of her COMP turned off, causing her heart to stop as a cold chill began to pour off of her skin. When the light finally returned, much more of the corridor was lit up than prior, something that did nothing to calm her nerves.


    ¡°Okay, votes to leave and never come back to this wing?¡±


    (Aye.)


    (Yes. Aye. S¨ª. Whatever the fuck gets us out of here!)


    She pointedly ignored the laughter that followed her until the exact moment she left the mental ward.


    Scene Consequences


    -??? has noticed you.


    -New Upgrades Available.


    A/N: You know you guys really should¡¯ve been more wary about an unknown Con when picking this place as our base. Especially given its history.

 Turn 25

    Turn 25


    --- Maya ---


    Having fled the hospital after that nightmarish encounter, Maya rapidly made her way back to her home in the desperate hopes of forgetting about the whole thing.


    (We should just ditch the hospital and set up somewhere else!) Her inner emotion cried. (I mean we¡¯ve already got a minion at the Trainyard, so why don¡¯t we move shop over there?)


    (Because our Base Generator isn¡¯t exactly mobile.) Her inner reason pointed out. (What¡¯s more, we¡¯d have to waste an entire day setting up a new base, while throwing away all of our work on the hospital.)


    (If it means not getting our ass haunted, let the bitch have the hospital!)


    ¡°Look, let¡¯s¡­ let¡¯s just see if there¡¯s a way to deal with the ghost, without abandoning the hospital.¡± She eventually told the voices in her head.


    Already knowing she was going to have trouble sleeping, she stayed up later than she probably should¡¯ve been trying to find ways of dealing with the undead online.


    This of course led her to even more videos of Deadmen eating people.


    (Come on let¡¯s just abandon the place¡­) Her inner child whimpered as they closed another horrifying clip less than a minute into it.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not quitting that easy.¡± She argued, the Williams¡¯ stubbornness shining through. ¡°Look, we just need to figure out how other people deal with hauntings. I mean it can¡¯t be that uncommon for a Deadman to haunt a place.¡±


    (I believe most people would call Sanctuary in such a situation.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    (Yeah, no.) Her inner passion vetoed. (I¡¯d rather deal with the ghost than those racist assholes.)


    ¡°Right¡­ Since we can¡¯t call Sanctuary, -and I don¡¯t think this falls under the hero¡¯s guild¡¯s charter since they¡¯re all about saving people, dead people included- who should we call?¡± She asked herself.


    (What about a local hunter?) Her inner logic offered, after all in a world filled with rifts to other worlds, Arcane summoned anomalies, and M.A.D. crafted monstrosities, who better to deal with those than someone who makes a living hunting all of them.


    (But aren¡¯t most of those guys just assholes looking for a TV deal?) Her inner child countered, remembering the various shows they¡¯d seen online and on the TV about people hunting non-threats.


    ¡°No, at least a few of them would have to be legit.¡± She agreed with her reason, remembering a news report about how Deviants were more comfortable asking Hunters for help than Sanctuary. (Which holds true here.)


    ¡°The trick this though, is going to be sorting through all of the posers for someone who can actually handle a haunting.¡± She decided as she began to shift through the handful of hunter agencies in her city.


    (Then we¡¯d also have to explain why a teenager wants a hospital de-haunted.) Her logic reminded her.


    (Yeah, I doubt we want to tell some random fuck we¡¯re building an M.A.D. lair in it.)


    ¡°Right. That is going to be a problem¡­¡± She admitted.


    (Still at the very least we might be able to get pointers from a professional on how to handle our problem.) Her inner reason told her.


    ¡°Mm-hmm, oh here¡¯s something that might help either way.¡± She commented as she pulled up an article on determining if a hunter was a hack or not. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see¡­ Skipping to the bit on dealing with hauntings¡­¡±


    Her eyes drifted through the article, seeing if she could find something immediately useful to herself or not. ¡°Alright, so from what I can tell while most Hunter Agencies hire people of all deviancies and non, they always have someone who can practice ¡®magic¡¯ and that¡¯s usually the person they send to find out if something funny is going on.¡±


    (Meaning this is outside our wheelhouse.)


    (No.) Her inner madness disagreed. (Meaning we need to hack magic.)


    (Which is probably beyond our current skill level.) Her inner logic felt the need to point out. (Especially since it¡¯s its own system of doing much the same.)


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯d probably have to start from scratch if we wanted to take that route, and I doubt the whispers will be all that helpful with it.¡± She agreed. ¡°But since we already know we¡¯re haunted, we just have to figure out how to deal with it.¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    (Well, according to this most Hunters if they aren¡¯t trying to outright kill a Deadman, which this says is a sign of a hack given how hard they are to kill, then they¡¯ll try to find the Deadman¡¯s ¡®obsession¡¯ so that they can negotiate getting the spirit to leave.)


    ¡°Alright, and how do we do that?¡±


    (It says the easiest way is to find the Deadman¡¯s identity and use that to find out what was important to said Deadman when they were still alive.)


    (Wait, hold up. Weren¡¯t we just watching videos of Deadmen eating people?) Her inner fear reminded them. (If we mess with this thing it might try to eat us.)


    ¡°No, this says that if a Deadman haunts a specific location then usually they¡¯ll lack the thing that makes other Deadmen cannibalistic, since it¡¯s apparently tied to their independence and their ability to exist apart from their obsession or something like that anyway.¡± She explained learning more about Deadmen than her previous research had given her.


    (Meaning unless we intrude upon her domain this ghost will probably leave us be, just like she did before we stepped into her territory.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    (Maybe, but I don¡¯t feel comfortable sharing our base with something that might be an undead cannibal.) Her inner emotion told them.


    ¡°Well, this says it¡¯s the Deadmen that are closer to the zombie end of the ghost-zombie spectrum that actually eat people, and the more spiritual ones are usually passive unless they feel threatened. It¡¯s just the attacks are noted more often than the ones who keep to themselves.¡± She realized with some concern.


    (Still attack, ignore, aid, or investigate. At the very least we have a fair number of options.)


    ¡°Yeah, now it¡¯s just deciding what to do with them.¡± She agreed.


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya has a basic understanding of how certain Deadmen behave.


    -New Quest Unlocked: Haunted Hospital


    --Beacon Hospital is haunted, figure out a way to deal with this.


    ---


    Despite staying up late to research how to deal with ghosts, she forced herself to get up in the morning and spar with Izzy once more.


    (After all a hero never rests.) She thought wryly.


    (Screw that! This hero wants to go back to sleep!) Her inner child whined.


    While she¡¯d been expecting Izzy to kick her ass ¨C(which she did)- she hadn¡¯t been expecting to do nearly as good as she did, due to her self-inflicted exhaustion. (Which wasn¡¯t actually all that impressive.)


    ¡°Fuck you¡­¡± She wheezed still trying to catch her breath.


    (You really need to learn better insults, you¡¯re starting to default on that.)


    ¡°Most of my Spanish insults would insult me since you¡¯re a part of me¡­ or insult our mam¨¢ anyway.¡±


    (By that thought process, aren¡¯t you still insulting yourself?) Her inner logic wondered. (I mean you¡¯re directing them at ¡®you¡¯ but she is part of you so it would be more of a ¡®me¡¯ in actual usage¡­)


    (Yeah, you¡¯re not saying ¡®fuck you¡¯ you¡¯re saying ¡®fuck me.¡¯) Her inner insanity agreed. (Which means you¡¯re still insulting yourself.)


    ¡°You know what? Fuck both of you.¡±


    (¡®Eff both of me¡¯, doesn¡¯t really track very well¡­)


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to Izzy gained 3XP to Fighting


    --*Skill Level Up*: Fighting is now Lv. 5 (0/12)


    ---


    After finishing her morning spar with Izzy, she made her way back to her room, not bothering to go back to the (haunted) hospital until she had a way of at least detecting if the ghost was invading her workshop.


    To this endeavor she began working up an upgrade to her Headset, using a few electronic bits and pieces as well as a few modifications to her UI program, she rigged her Headset to be able to visually represent anything her Scanner was able to detect.


    (If it could detect anything anyway.) Her inner impatience scoffed.


    ¡°I guess we¡¯ll just have to make a few upgrades to our Scanner then, won¡¯t we?¡±


    (Regardless, at the very least our modifications should grant us a form of night vision.) Her inner reason cut in before she could start arguing with herself.


    ¡°Right, right¡­¡± She nodded going through her programs. ¡°That said, we should probably look into a few more upgrades for our Scanner. Something that detects thermal energy should help us with our little ghost problem.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Headset Upgraded to Mk. 1.1


    -UI Management Upgraded to V 1.1


    --Headset can now see in night vision.


    --Headset can now better synergize with Scanner Upgrades.


    -New Upgrades available.


    ---


    Seeing as she was already working on her headset, she decided to take her upgrades a step further and implement something she¡¯d been meaning to do for a while, attaching a faceplate to her headset.


    The faceplate itself was a relatively easy thing she could make with five minutes of Alchemy (), a few empty water bottles, and one of Seamus¡¯s crayons she¡¯d melted in the microwave. The real work came in creating a small filter that would allow her to breathe even with the solid mask covering her mouth and nose.


    ¡°Ugh, well¡­ it¡¯s not the ugliest mask I¡¯ve seen.¡± She tried reassuring herself as she wore her mask in the mirror.


    (It¡¯s not the nicest looking one either.) Her inner passion grimaced.


    (Well¡­ We won¡¯t be winning any beauty contests but at the very least no one will know who we are with this on.)


    (Yeah, but we¡¯re likely to make little kids cry with this thing.)


    ¡°Yeah¡­ we¡¯re going to have to do something about that¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Upgraded Headset to Mk. 1.2


    --Maya¡¯s Headset now comes with a facemask making it harder to recognize her from any distance.


    --Due to Mask¡¯s appearance, Maya takes a mild Social penalty when interacting with others in costume.


    -New Upgrades Available.

 Turn 26

    Turn 26


    --- Maya ---


    (You know I think I¡¯d prefer a rematch with Decker, to having our ass handed to us by our middle schooler of a sister.) Her inner passion commented drolly from where they laid on the ground.


    (I know what you mean.) She agreed waiting for her various aches and pains to fade. (At the very least we¡¯ll be prepared when we start patrolling soon.)


    (True, but it might be best to avoid sparring with Izzy on that day, otherwise we may be too injured and exhausted to actually do anything.)


    (Right¡­) She agreed as she sat up. (Especially with all of the walking and -hopefully- fighting we¡¯ll be doing that night.)


    ¡°You ready for another round or no?¡± Izzy asked.


    ¡°Yeah, just give me a second¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to Izzy gained 3XP to Fighting


    --Currently: Lv. 5 (3/12)


    ---


    (Are we sure these people are¡­ reputable?) Her inner reason questioned as they stepped into the lobby of an old hotel.


    (If not we¡¯ve got our Hand Cannons and can blast our way out.) Her inner madness assured her.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter, of the three legitimate Hunter¡¯s agencies in the city this is the only one that we know doesn¡¯t cost an arm and a leg.¡± She reminded herself, as she walked through the entrance of the building where she caught sight of a handsome dark-haired boy a few years older than her placing things from a box onto the lobby counter. ¡°Uh, hello?¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh, hello luv? What can I do for ya?¡± The older boy asked with an English accent. ¡°You looking for a specific shop, or?¡±


    She glanced around the room a bit trying to find a store sign of some kind. ¡°Um, is this Hack and Slash Inc.?¡±


    ¡°Ah, yes it is¡­¡± The boy nodded with a smile, before rolling his eyes at himself. ¡°Or rather it will be once we open shop proper in a couple of weeks.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ I could¡¯ve sworn the website said you were already open for business.¡± She told him.


    (It did.) Her inner logic confirmed with perfect recall.


    ¡°Ah, yes, that¡­¡± The boy made a face as he grumbled about someone ¡®half arsing¡¯ it. ¡°Our¡­ tech manager switched out the physical address on our website while keeping the rest the same.¡±


    ¡°So, you can¡¯t help me then?¡± She asked disappointedly, mainly because she knew she couldn¡¯t afford the other two agencies.


    ¡°Now I didn¡¯t say that luv.¡± The boy told her before placing a hand on the counter and hopping over it. ¡°Just because we¡¯re not ¡®open¡¯ doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t help a dearie in need.¡±


    ¡°Oh, um, thanks¡­¡± She stalled realizing she didn¡¯t know the boy¡¯s name.


    Jack smiled before offering his hand. ¡°You can call me Jack Wright for now miss.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± (Crap, we forgot to come up with an alias¡­) ¡°Maya Williams.¡± She eventually defaulted when she felt her pause was dragging just a little too long.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s a pleasure to meet you miss Williams.¡± Jack nodded before gesturing to a couch on the other side of the lobby. ¡°Why don¡¯t you take a seat and we¡¯ll see what I can do to help.¡±


    ¡°Ah, thanks.¡± She nodded back before sitting down, as Jack sat on a nearby coffee table.


    ¡°Now tell me what a pretty miss like you has need for a big bad Hunter?¡± Jack asked, his blue eyes seemingly flashing red.


    (Must just be a trick of the light¡­)


    ¡°Um, right¡­¡± (How to word this without giving away the fact that I¡¯m an M.A.D.?) ¡°My family was working on refurbishing this old building, while I was going through I ran into this pale woman with glowing green eyes, who ran me off.¡± She explained with what was largely the truth.


    ¡°Mm, glowing green eyes¡­ that¡¯s usually means she¡¯s a type of Deadman.¡± Jack confirmed for her with a thoughtful look on his face. ¡°So, I¡¯m going to go out on a limb and guess you want this Dead-woman taken care of?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, um, I¡¯m here because my family doesn¡¯t really believe there¡¯s a Deadman since no one has been hurt so far.¡± She told him, which as far as she knew was in fact true. ¡°So how much would an¡­ exorcism like that cost?¡±


    Jack made a face, before seeming to think about it for a moment. ¡°Well, I suppose that would depend on a couple of factors. For instance, is the ghost in question actively causing trouble, or is it just minding its own business?¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°I¡­¡± She stopped to consider it, before sighing. ¡°I guess she was minding her own business until I showed up. I mean at the very least she left me alone once I left.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Jack nodded thoughtfully. ¡°And how long exactly have you lot been refurbishing this place?¡±


    ¡°Um, about a week or so.¡± She admitted.


    ¡°And you¡¯re sure this spirit hasn¡¯t actually done anything violent in that time, right?¡± Jack asked once more.


    She tried to think of anything unusual that may¡¯ve happened over the last week. ¡°Nothing I can think of anyway.


    Jack gave her a look before sighing. ¡°Okay. Look, I¡¯m going to be straight with you. If this spirit truly is leaving you alone for the most part, it¡¯s probably better if you just learn how to work around her rather than trying to get rid of her.¡±


    ¡°But what if she starts harassing me again?¡±


    ¡°Then you call me to deal with it.¡± Jack told her sternly, before giving her a laidback smile. ¡°Until then you¡¯re just wasting your money hiring a Hunter you don¡¯t actually need luv.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but raise a brow. ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be convincing me to hire you? Not sending me off on my own.¡±


    Jack just snorted at that. ¡°No offense, but I don¡¯t think you can actually afford me luv.¡±


    ¡°Really and how much do you charge?¡±


    ¡°For a walk-in like this?¡± He confirmed. ¡°Fifty dollars an hour or five hundred a day if the job takes more than ten hours in a day to finish.¡±


    (That is significantly more money than we have.)


    (What was that about this place not costing an arm and a leg?)


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I thought.¡± Jack chuckled at her expense. ¡°Still, people are always surprised when they realize that most spirits can actually be fairly reasonable so long as you¡¯re willing to honestly hear them out.¡±


    ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying I should just leave it be?¡± She asked for one final clarification.


    Jack sighed once more before shaking his head. ¡°You don¡¯t have to leave it alone, but if the ghost is leaving you alone, then essentially you¡¯re one breaking into her house and assaulting her. Even if by mortal legality, that¡¯s not the case. It¡¯s still a bit of a dick move dearie.¡±


    She grimaced as she actually thought it through. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fair.¡±


    Jack watched her for a moment before nodding and giving her a smile as he stood up. ¡°Well if that¡¯ll be all luv, I really do need to get back to work.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right! Thanks for the help I guess.¡± She nodded back as she stood as well.


    ¡°No problem luv. Just remember if you ever need any help with what goes bump in the night, feel free to call.¡± Jack smiled as he waved his hand twirling a black business card into existence, before presenting it to her with a half-bow.


    ¡°Oh, uh, thanks.¡± She told him as she accepted the card, before making her way out of the building as Jack resumed what he was doing before her appearance.


    Once she was on the street she gave the little black card a proper look.


    In red and silver ink on front of the card was the image of knife stabbing through a heart covered in stitches, with the words, ¡®Hack & Slash Inc. Beware Ye Who Hunts Monsters, For You Already Are One.¡¯


    (Well, if that isn¡¯t ten kinds of ominous.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya knows a little more about Hunters and Deadmen.


    -New Contact: Maya can now contact Hack & Slash Inc. whenever she has a supernatural problem. (Results may vary.)


    ---


    Deciding to take a detour to check on her drone, Maya got off the bus and made her way to the train car her Drone was supposed to be leaving scrap at.


    ¡°Hmm, not bad.¡± She commented seeing a small pile of scrap.


    (I don¡¯t know I was kind of hoping it¡¯d gather more after three days.)


    (We did restrict it to only scavenging at night.) Her inner reason reminded her.


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She glanced around a bit. ¡°Where is our little drone anyway? DM-1 report!¡±


    There was a slight sound of clacking before her drone crawled its way out from under the train car.


    ¡°Ah, there you are.¡± She smiled picking the little drone up and setting it in the train car. ¡°You¡¯ve been a busy little fellow haven¡¯t you?¡± She told it as she scratched the top of its chassis.


    DM-1 nodded before doing a little jig in place.


    (Hmm, how smart exactly did we make this little guy?)


    (Skynet~)


    ¡°Shut up.¡± She told herself with a shake of her head, before turning her attention back to the little drone in front of her. ¡°Still we should probably figure out what we¡¯re going to do with you¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Drone Collected (3) Scrap.


    --Formula: 3 (Turns) * 1 (for being careful) * 1 (Drones) * 1 (For having no drone upgrades) = 3


    -Drone remained undetected.


    ---


    She stopped at the entrance to the hospital, before glancing around for anymore spooky shit waiting to jump her.


    (If what Wright said was true, then in all likelihood the spirit will leave us alone so long as we stay away from the mental ward.) Her inner reason reminded her.


    ¡°I know¡­¡± She sighed.


    Deciding she should either woman up or head back home, she steeled herself before entering the hospital and freezing.


    (¡­)


    (¡­)


    (¡­)


    ¡°Well we¡¯re not dead at least?¡± She told herself, before immediately leaping away at her purposeful tempting of fate.


    (¡­)


    (¡­)


    (Now you two are taking this too far.) Her inner logic warned her. (The spirit clearly isn¡¯t a threat at the moment, so let¡¯s get to our lab and get to work.)


    ¡°Right, right¡­¡± She nodded, before making her way through the hospital and to her lab.


    Once there she walked over to her computer and began typing up a few improvements for her Alchemy () program in the hopes of decreasing her overall drain on her supply of plastic, given how hard it was to find a suitable quantity of the substance without essentially dumpster diving.


    By the time she had to start making her way back home, she¡¯d begun to finally calm down after her previous scare and was much less reluctant about working from continuing her work at the hospital.


    ¡°You know, maybe this won¡¯t be so bad.¡± She told her other selves as she exited the hospital and started making her way to the bus stop.


    (And you just jinxed us.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Improvement to Alchemy ()-Plastic efficiency: (1/2)

 Turn 27

    Turn 27


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Mm, still got good enough.¡± Izzy grumbled.


    ¡°Wow, tell me how you really feel.¡± She snarked back, as she waited for her newest aches to fade.


    Izzy rolled her eyes. ¡°I wasn¡¯t talking about you; you¡¯re actually doing a lot better than you were a couple of weeks ago. Honestly, I¡¯m a bit jealous about how fast you¡¯re picking all of this up.¡±


    ¡°I may be a quick learner, but that doesn¡¯t change the fact that you¡¯re still kicking my butt hermanita.¡± She assured her little sister (hopefully) before she could develop a complex.


    ¡°Yeah, but if you keep going at this pace, I¡¯m not sure how much longer I¡¯ll be able to.¡± Izzy admitted in a tone Maya did not like.


    ¡°And then when we¡¯re the same size, you¡¯ll start kicking my butt all over again.¡± She promised. ¡°The only reason I¡¯m giving you so much trouble is because I¡¯m like four years older than you. Trust me when you¡¯re in high school and I¡¯m in college, you¡¯ll be right back to wiping the floor with my face.¡±


    Izzy gave her a snort of amusement before shaking her head. ¡°Maybe. Either way, knuckle up, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve got another round or two in you.¡±


    ¡°Uh, can we not and say we did?¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to Izzy gained 3XP to Fighting.


    --Currently: Lv. 5 (6/12)


    ---


    ¡°Oh, there you are mija!¡± Her mam¨¢ called as she passed through the living room. ¡°I was just looking for you.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, is something wrong?¡± She asked.


    ¡°No, nothing¡¯s wrong but given how much time you¡¯ve been spending on your games and projects the last few weeks I just wanted to make sure you haven¡¯t forgotten about everything we have to do next week.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡±


    (Shit! We totally forgot!)


    Her mother gave her an unimpressed look. ¡°Next week we have both Izzy¡¯s martial arts tournament, as well as the back to school festival Tommy¡¯s band is playing at.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right!¡± That was the whole reason Izzy and Tommy had been so active the last few weeks.


    (Actually, that explains why Izzy was so stressed this morning, she¡¯s only got a couple days to get ready¡­)


    ¡°S¨ª, and that¡¯s not including the fact that you¡¯ll have to go back to school a few days after that.¡± Her mother made sure to remind her.


    ¡°Right, I won¡¯t forget.¡± She promised.


    ¡°Sure, you won¡¯t.¡± Her mother nodded. ¡°Just don¡¯t blame me when you get dragged out of bed with three hours of sleep.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t.¡± She promised once more as she stepped out the front door.


    (At least not verbally anyway.)


    ¡°Hush you.¡± She told herself. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to kick it into gear a bit, once school starts we¡¯re not going to have as much time for all of our other stuff.¡±


    (Ah, the problems of a high school hero.)


    Event Alert


    -In 3 Days, Maya will have to attend Izzy¡¯s Tournament.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    -In 7 Days, Maya will have to attend Tommy¡¯s festival.


    -In 12 Days, Maya will have to start school again.


    ---


    The first thing she did after getting back to the hospital was, pull out her face mask and began making some modifications to it.


    After realizing just how off putting her blank mask was she¡¯d decided it wouldn¡¯t hurt to make the mask collapsible, for when she wanted to put a more friendly face on for others. Admittedly this would remove whatever protection her mask gave her secret identity, but it also meant that she didn¡¯t have to worry about giving the wrong first impression to other heroes and anyone she was trying to calm down.


    When her modifications were finished she put her headset on, noting how the retracted face guard was still slightly visible on the sides of her jaw just below her ears.


    (I just want it on record that if this hurts, I told you so.)


    ¡°That¡¯s not at all helpful.¡± She told her inner insanity.


    (That said, we probably shouldn¡¯t be testing if it works while wearing it.)


    She couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes at herself. ¡°I put a safety sensor in, if any of my skin gets in the way it¡¯ll immediately retract. Besides I need to test to see if it works as intended.¡±


    With that point established, she tensed a muscle in her jaw, allowing her to subtly press a button that sent her mask zipping shut in just a couple of seconds.


    (Okay, that¡¯s kind of cool.) Her inner child admitted, as she flexed her jaw once more retracting the mask and revealing the lower half of her face once more.


    ¡°Heh, it really is.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Face plate can now be opened and closed, this allows Maya to freely turn on and off the Mask¡¯s bonus to hiding her identity and the penalty to her social interactions.


    -*Skill Rank Up* Electronics is now Rank E (Lv. 4 (0/10))


    ---


    Seeing as she still had a few more hours until she had to start making her way back home, she decided to go ahead and finish up the software project she¡¯d started the day before as well.


    On paper what she was doing to her Alchemy () program shouldn¡¯t have been impossible, that is doing more with less plastic. At least until one realized that her initial method of using Alchemy () on an object rendered a fair portion of the plastic she was using had a tendency to turn into a too fluid mess of overly softened material that she had to remove if she used Alchemy () on it too many times. Something that was all too frequent with her general lack of art skills.


    ¡°Hey, that¡¯s not true.¡± She whined, turning to where she kept her equipment. ¡°I mean just look at my gear so far!¡±


    (You mean the stuff that kind of looks like you took a bunch scrap metal and duct taped it together?)


    ¡°Hurtful.¡±


    (Look Maya, we all have talents. Ours just don¡¯t happen to be of the¡­ artistic variety.)


    ¡°Tech and Coding are their own art forms!¡± She told herself. ¡°And that¡¯s not including the stuff we do with biology; I mean everyone is always saying how beautiful nature is!¡±


    (Yeah, but the biology stuff we do is straight out of a sci-fi horror story.)


    ¡°No, it isn¡¯t!¡± She argued, pointedly trying to ignore the fact that she nearly vomited after making her bio-pod.


    (Actually, now that it¡¯s been said our healing herbs kind of do look like the green herbs from resident evil.) Her inner logic pointed out in an attempt to stop the arguing before it got out of hand.


    She paused before blinking as she turned to said plant. ¡°Huh. It kind of does, doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    (How did we miss that?)


    Scene Consequences


    -Alchemy upgraded to V1.1


    --Projects now cost 1 less Plastic. (Cannot be reduced below 1 Unit of Plastic.)


    -A/N: Due to the way Alchemy () affects Plastics, I¡¯ve decided to have its use apply to the Art skill. (That is to say I figured out a purpose for what was intended as a joke skill.)


    --We¡¯ve done 3 projects with plastic (Headset, Armor, mask) so Art gains 3XP setting it to Lv. 1 (3/4)


    ---


    Now that her attention had been drawn towards the little green plant, she decided to go ahead and harvest it seeing as how it had technically been ready to gather for roughly a week now.


    (You know we¡¯re actually really lucky we installed a failsafe to keep these things from rotting once they¡¯re done.)


    (Quite¡­ Though the fact that we¡¯ve grown twice as much as intended does provide some interesting possibilities in our future bio-ware projects¡­)


    ¡°True. Too bad we don¡¯t have enough Organics to try and grow something else though¡­¡± She¡¯d mostly decided to collect it because she¡¯d finally noticed how overgrown her little experiment had gotten.


    (Well at the very least we know our bio-pod works, and that we can grow some plants of value.)


    (Yeah, and since we know it works, we can start tweaking the plants DNA until it works even better!)


    ¡°That could work.¡± She admitted as she began storing the herbs in a container. ¡°Though we might have to tweak our Biology Interface () a little bit if we want to control those mutations.¡±


    (Pfft, you act like that¡¯s going to be difficult.)


    Scene Consequences


    -*Overgrown Crit* Gained 2 Healing Herbs.


    --Healing Herb: Can be used to instantly improve 1 Health State at the cost of no AP for any organic unit.


    -New Upgrades available.


    A/N: Overgrown Crit is something that can happen to certain Bioware projects that results in a bonus to that given project when you leave it to cook for twice as long as it actually needs. (Note: Using actual Crits on Bioware provide a bonus of some kind regardless of how long you leave a project to cook. And each Crit stacks only once.)

 Turn 28

    Turn 28


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°If we¡¯re going for a patrol we need to have a ranged option.¡± She told her other counterparts as she began tweaking her Blaster Protocols () to let her attacks work a little further without dissipating.


    (Yes, that would¡¯ve been useful to get past Decker¡¯s Speaker Spire.) Her inner reason agreed. (Though I do sincerely hope we don¡¯t have to deal with a fight on that level again.)


    (Meh, fight or no fight, you can¡¯t say no to more dakka.) Her inner child told them in a sage like manner.


    With the mutual agreement of her inner selves, she found herself working through her program significantly faster than she normally would, going so far as to finish the program upgrade in just a few hours. Leaving her with plenty of time to actually test her upgrades.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s see¡­¡± She pressed the trigger to unleash a blast from her cannons, and then held it down for a moment longer, before finally throwing her hand forward and sending a bolt of lightning shooting down the hospital hall, only to fade halfway down.


    (Looks like its got about a ten, fifteen meter limit.) Her inner logic pointed out.


    ¡°That¡¯s still a lot better than the meter or two we had before, even if there¡¯s no actual spread.¡± She reminded herself.


    (Either way¡­ there¡¯s nothing like a fistful of lightning, now, is there?)


    ¡°Definitely.¡± She laughed at the reference before switching her cannons to sound. ¡°Still let¡¯s see how well the upgrade carries over to sound?¡±


    With that goal in mind she once more charged up a shot before throwing her hand forward.


    A loud boom echoed from her hand sending out a wave of force almost five meters away, pushing all dirt and debris out of its path as it did so, though some of trash further away wasn¡¯t pushed all that far.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She frowned, seeing the relative lack of effect. ¡°I was kind of expecting more.¡±


    (Do you think the lack of range is because of the fact we¡¯re firing sound or because electricity could jump further?) Her inner logic wondered.


    (Don¡¯t know¡­) Her inner passion admitted, with a surprising amount of thoughtfulness before telling her to, (Punch the wall.)


    Her face scrunched up in confusion. ¡°What? Why?¡±


    (Just hit it point blank.)


    ¡°Fine¡­¡±


    She wasn¡¯t sure why she was giving in to her inner child, but she couldn¡¯t really see why not to, and so she readied another ranged sound blast and shot it at a nearby wall.


    What she hadn¡¯t expected was to blast a massive hole into said wall, as it was hit with nearly twice the power of her usual sound shots.


    ¡°Holy shit!¡± She cursed, coughing through the dust and debris.


    (Well, that¡¯s a thing.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Blaster Protocols upgraded to V1.2


    --All current and future optimized energy types for the Hand Cannons gain a ranged upgrade.


    ---Electricity: Can fire low powered lightning bolts at enemies, and while lacking spread shots strike further than most energy types.


    ---Sound: Increased range and force of blasts, though they weaken the further they get from Maya giving this type shorter reach than most.


    ---


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Realizing that one act of destruction towards her base was enough ¨C(Are you sure we¡¯re a M.A.D. scientist, because that sounds an awful lot like quitter talk.)- she instead decided to focus on fixing some of the blind spots in her scanner¡¯s programming.


    To this effort she took some of the last bits of medical equipment she¡¯d collected while cleaning up the hospital and pieced them together into something resembling a sonar radar. And while said radar wasn¡¯t completely infallible it was more than enough to get a general 3D image of the space around her. (Though we¡¯re going to have to do something if we want to start seeing through walls¡­)


    (Speaking of, we should probably sort out that mess in detecting out more supernatural neighbor.) Her inner reason reminded her.


    ¡°Oh, right! Uh, you think thermal should work for that?¡± She asked picking through a number of parts from the cabinet where she stored all of her electronic parts.


    (Yeah, ghosts are supposed to cause cold spots, so that should let us keep an eye on any invisible creepers.) Her inner madness agreed as she began making the modifications to both her Scanner and its corresponding programs.


    (Oh, that might be a problem¡­) Her inner reason commented a little nervously as she began to wrap up her final upgrade for the scanner that day.


    ¡°What might be a problem?¡± She asked going over everything she could see.


    (Well, you know how our COMP can only run so many programs at one time.)


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    (You do realize our Scan () is now forcing us over that limit, yes?)


    ¡°¡­¡± She stared blankly at the screen displaying a warning prompt from her COMP. ¡°No. No I did not.¡±


    (Then this poses a bit of a problem.)


    ¡°Yes, yes it does.¡± She agreed as she began to go over her list of programs.


    (Uh, we¡¯re not wussing out of our patrol are we?)


    ¡°What? No, of course not.¡± She frowned.


    (Uh, perhaps it should?) Her inner reason attempted to warn.


    ¡°Yeah, no. All we have to do is remove some of our non-essential programs. Sure, we won¡¯t be able to use them until we fix our memory problems but going a day without any of our building programs isn¡¯t going to kill us.¡± She explained picking which of those programs to remove.


    (Good, because I really want to use our new dakka on something.)


    (I feel like this may be a bad idea.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Scanner upgraded to Mk. 1.3 and Scan () upgrade to V1.3


    --Scanner can now detect Thermal and Sonar.


    --Program Synergy: Map () can now detect people within range, regardless of if they have a wi-fi device on them or not.


    --Hardware Synergy: Map () Range increased.


    Warning: Memory Has Exceeded COMP Limit!


    ---


    Getting permission to stay out a little later than usual was as easy as telling her parents she was staying at a late-night gaming event at a local game shop. Something they were admittedly against, until Tommy offered to go with her to make sure she stayed safe, while asking to borrow the car so they don¡¯t have to spend too long outside.


    This of course was his own lie to give him the perfect excuse to sneak out for a couple of hours to go to a party down by the Trainyard.


    (I suppose the best way to lie to our parents is to get our siblings to back us.)


    (Haven¡¯t we known that since we were like eight?)


    (Never hurts to refresh your knowledge.)


    ¡°You sure you¡¯re going to be okay, hermanita?¡± Tommy double checked as they pulled over a block away from the address of the game shop she¡¯d given him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± She assured him as she climbed out of the car. ¡°After all, I¡¯ve been sparring with Izzy a lot lately and I¡¯ve picked up a fair bit.¡± (Besides I¡¯ve fought and beaten a super villain, even if he was an affably evil one.)


    (We¡¯ve also got our dakka can¡¯t forget about the dakka.)


    (I feel there may be something wrong with both of you reasoning.) Her inner reason felt the need to point out.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Tommy nodded a little hesitantly. ¡°And you¡¯ve got your phone in case something happens, right?¡±


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°Yes dad.¡±


    Tommy rolled his eyes right on back at her. ¡°Your little game convention thing ends at midnight, right?¡±


    ¡°About then, but I¡¯ll call you if it lets out early.¡± She promised getting another nod from her brother.


    ¡°Right, well¡­ love you, mija!¡± Tommy called as he drove off just fast enough to miss her giving him the bird.


    Still, she couldn¡¯t help but give a snort of amusement as his car rounded the corner. ¡°Pinche pendejo.¡±


    (Actually, I kind of wish dad acted like that too¡­)


    She forced that thought away with a shake of her head, before turning towards the more criminally active parts of the area as she began pulling her equipment from her backpack.


    Snapping the last piece into place she loaded her Hand Cannons with a whine, before triggering her face guard to close.


    ¡°Alright, time to kick ass.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Bluffing gains 1XP.


    --*Skill Level Up*: Lv. 2 (0/6)


    -Actual Patrol will take place in its own short chapter, after we remove programs and pick a perk.

 First Patrol (Pt. 1)

    First Patrol (Pt. 1)


    --- Maya ---


    While it hadn¡¯t exactly been her first idea of a place to go, the fact that Tommy had specifically told her that there was another party going on at the Trainyard, made her want to investigate the general area.


    ¡°You know when you hear the word ¡®patrol¡¯ you expect a little more something.¡± She commented as she cut through another (supposed to be) dangerous alley.


    (To be fair most patrols are more of a ¡®there is someone watching¡¯ kind of thing.) Her inner reason explained. (Even if we don¡¯t fight anyone, just the word that there is a mask patrolling this area will keep most non-Deviants in doors.)


    Watching someone take a video of her with their phone from across the street made her wonder about that.


    (It¡¯s a time thing. Right now, no one knows what we are actually doing. I¡¯m sure after we catch a criminal or two, we¡¯ll start having some kind of influence on the area¡¯s crime rate.)


    (Ugh, boring¡­)


    ¡°Yeah, just a matter of leveling up our rep.¡± She nodded at her inner logic. ¡°We¡¯re still on Protector rank, so of course no one ¡®s really reacting to us.¡±


    (Honestly, we¡¯re probably still at Vandal rank.)


    (So bored¡­)


    ¡°What? But we beat Decker, that¡¯s got to count as good karma.¡± She argued.


    (Perhaps but you have to remember as far as anyone knows he wasn¡¯t doing anything strictly speaking good or bad.) Her inner reason reminded her. (Sure, we know he was up to no good, but everyone else just thinks he¡¯s a Deviant DJ who got into a fight with another Deviant. Even the heroes have no way of knowing we¡¯re the good guy because none of them know why we were trying to take him down.)


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°Damn, I forgot about that¡­¡± It wasn¡¯t until a few days after her fight with Decker that she realized him editing the video didn¡¯t just save her from the embarrassment of being verbally torn apart. It also cut out her accusations about him and any forewarning that could¡¯ve given to anyone invited to his party about his shadier dealings.


    (Okay, all of this is well and good, but it doesn¡¯t change the fact that this is fucking boring!) Her inner madness whined. (Why won¡¯t something just happen already!)


    ¡°¡­¡±


    (¡­)


    (¡­)


    ¡°You know I was honestly expecting something to happen at that.¡± She admitted to the silent night.


    (I know right?)


    (Perhaps we should just count our blessings that nothing did happen.) Her inner reason warned them.


    ¡°Why? I mean it¡¯s not like we can¡¯t actually handle whatever is thrown at us.¡±


    (Ooh, and the flag is raised!)


    ¡°Whatever, how far our we from the actual Trainyard now?¡± She asked pulling up a larger version of her mini-map onto her headset. ¡°Maybe we can keep a drunk kid from getting mugged or something.¡±


    (Hmm, it looks like we¡¯re another ten, fifteen minutes away.) Her inner reason judged, as her Informant Network () pulled up a couple of noise complaints from the party onto her MAP ().


    ¡°Wonder if Decker ¡®ll be at this party too¡­¡± She murmured, itching for a re-match.


    (Oh, oh, wait! There¡¯s a break-in!) Her inner passion cheered as she noted an icon a fair distance away.


    (Hmm, depending on how fast we can run, we might be able to intercept. Though, we might miss them too, given the distance.)


    (What? No! It¡¯d suck if we got blue balled on our first patrol!)


    (In either case, it might be more productive to try and patrol around the party like we¡¯d originally intended. At the very least we¡¯d be able to make sure Tommy isn¡¯t involved if something does happen.)


    She eyed the two points on her MAP (). Like the voice in her head said if she couldn¡¯t run fast she wouldn¡¯t actually be able to do anything about the break in. On the other hand, however, if she stuck around the party she wasn¡¯t actually guaranteed a shot at anything happening.


    (What to do, what to do¡­)

 First Patrol (Pt. 2)

    First Patrol (Pt. 2)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°It¡¯s time to put all of that running to the test.¡± She told her other selves as she took off towards the break-in.


    (What about Tommy¡¯s party?) Her inner logic asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s been going to these things for years and given how he¡¯s driving me around I doubt he¡¯ll drink enough to make himself an easy target.¡± She explained.


    (You think he¡¯ll be drinking?)


    (He¡¯s a teenager at a party, if he isn¡¯t then he¡¯s a disappointment of a cool older brother.) Her inner madness scoffed.


    (Or he¡¯s a responsible older brother.) Her inner reason argued.


    ¡°Either way, he can take care of himself.¡± She interrupted before they could start fighting and give her a headache. Something she couldn¡¯t afford if she was about to enter a fight.


    Running as fast as she could, she managed to reach the sight of the break in in just a little over ten minutes. Thankfully with all of her running with Izzy this was not enough to actually exhaust her.


    (Which, given how those two are loading their car with what is assumedly stolen merchandise from that pawn shop, is probably a good thing.)


    ¡°Hey!¡± She shouted as she got closer. ¡°Away from the car!¡±


    One of the two thugs looked over at her, letting her see the ski masks over his face. ¡°Shit, it¡¯s a Mask! In the car, now!¡±


    The thugs slammed the car trunk before quickly moving to the front of the car and getting in.


    ¡°Hey! I said stop!¡± She yelled at them before throwing a bolt of electricity towards the car and hitting the lamppost next to the car instead. ¡°Shit!¡±


    The driver of the car seemed to slam on the gas, sending the car speeding forward and leaving the smell of burning rubber in the air.


    Catching up to where the car had been, she turned and raised her hand ready to blast the car with a bolt of lightning as-


    (Wait! Don¡¯t do that!) Her inner reason practically screamed.


    She blinked, not having expected the voices in her head. ¡°Huh?¡±


    (If you shoot them, they¡¯ll crash. What¡¯s more shooting lightning in neighborhood when we have terrible aim is not a good idea.)


    (Oh, come on! Our aim isn¡¯t that bad!) Her inner passion argued.


    (It¡¯s not that good either.) Her inner reason reminded her. (And it¡¯s especially not good enough to hit a moving target in an area where collateral damage is¡­ Well, it¡¯s not a good idea to say the least.)


    With a grimace she couldn¡¯t help but agree with herself, especially given how far the car had gotten away from her.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± She cursed, kicking a nearby lamppost -the same one she¡¯d already zapped- in frustration. ¡°I don¡¯t need the commentary right now! Just¡­ damn it!¡±


    By the time she finally managed to calm herself down, she heard a police siren coming in from the distance. ¡°Great, and the cops are late as usual¡­¡±


    (We should probably talk to them to let them know what happened.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    ¡°I guess¡­¡± She sighed.


    She sat on the curb as a cop car pulled over and two got out, each pointing a gun at the unidentified Mask. ¡°Put your hands up!¡±


    (Damn it. They know we¡¯re Mexican.)


    ¡°Not the time.¡± She growled quietly through grit teeth as she raised her hands before opening her faceplate and calling, ¡°The thieves already got away officers!¡±


    The two cops, one a white man and the other Latin woman, gave each other a look before nodding.


    ¡°Can you tell us what happened, ma¡¯am?¡± the male officer asked.


    ¡°I got here as these two guys were loading their car up with stuff from the store, they saw me screamed ¡®Mask¡¯ and drove off in their car.¡± She explained just a little listlessly. ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t really have anything that can disable a car without making a bigger mess for everyone.¡±


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    ¡°Well, while the shop keeper may not be happy, you made the right call.¡± The female officer assured her, apparently having picked up on her mood. ¡°You have no idea how many masks respond with too much force to this kind of thing. Ends up making things more difficult for everyone who gets involved.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I figured as much.¡± She nodded. ¡°Still sucks that they got away.¡±


    She idly noticed the two cops exchange a couple of looks, before the male officer started making his way towards the pawn shop and the female one took a seat next to her.


    ¡°Hey, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve heard about any new tech masks around these parts, you new?¡± The officer asked.


    ¡°This is technically my first patrol.¡± She admitted.


    ¡°Well, while you may not have caught those two, you still made the right call in that situation.¡± The officer reiterated. ¡°So, don¡¯t go beating yourself up because you could¡¯ve done a lot worse than you did.¡±


    ¡°I get that, just kind of sucks is all.¡±


    The officer just nodded at that, before eventually giving her a look. ¡°Hey, you mind if I ask you something?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know much else about what happened here.¡± She told the cop.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to ask about that.¡± The cop assured her. ¡°I was going to ask why you¡¯re out running around in a mask, because you seem kind of young to be doing this kind of thing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an M.A.D.¡± She explained waving a hand towards her gear. ¡°Figured if I have to build stuff might as well use it to help people.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh, and there aren¡¯t other ways for you to do that?¡± The woman asked, not quite skeptically but more concerned.


    ¡°None, without telling my family I¡¯m a Deviant. Which I¡¯d rather not for a number of reasons.¡± She admitted not quite meeting the older woman¡¯s gaze.


    The woman gained a pinched look. ¡°Are you okay at home?¡±


    ¡°What? Oh, yeah, no. That¡¯s not a problem.¡± She assured the older woman. ¡°I¡¯m not telling them, because while I¡¯m sure they¡¯d accept me, it¡¯d still change how they look at me.¡± (Which is why I haven¡¯t told them about a couple of other things either¡­)


    ¡°Right.¡± The woman nodded looking relieved. ¡°But wouldn¡¯t that mean they¡¯d be worried if something happened to you?¡±


    (They¡¯d have to notice first.)


    ¡°I¡­¡± She sighed. ¡°Look I get what you¡¯re trying to do here, talking me out of being a Mask and everything because I¡¯m just a kid, but given how I was¡­¡± She cut herself off. ¡°Given how stuff happened before I became a Mask, being one isn¡¯t going to do me more harm than good. Especially since everything I¡¯m building for this hero thing means I have to worry about all of that stuff less.¡±


    The officed grimaced in understanding. ¡°Okay. Then if you¡¯re that sure about it, it¡¯s not my place to push. Though I do hope you¡¯re being cautious about all of this.¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± She promised, purposely not thinking about her fight with Decker. ¡°M.A.D.s are all about slow and steady.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± The woman nodded once more as she stood.


    ¡°Oh, wait, hold on.¡± She told the officer as she finally remembered something.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your number?¡± She asked pulling something up on her headset.


    The older woman blinked once before offering her a confused smile. ¡°While I¡¯m flattered, I¡¯m also straight. And even if I was a bit curious you¡¯re also a bit too young for me.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± She blinked herself, before realizing what the older woman was insinuating and promptly shaking her head. ¡°No. No. No! I mean you¡¯re pretty but¡­ no. Just no, I¡­ um¡­¡±


    The older woman gave her a chuckle at that reaction. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but there¡¯s a policy about giving Masks personal information, it¡¯s meant to make sure cops and Masks have proper clearance to be helping each other. If I¡¯m remembering right, it¡¯s set up that way so a Mask can¡¯t implicate an officer if they mess up with collateral. It¡¯s also to remind cops they can¡¯t send Masks in to deal with a situation that they don¡¯t really understand.¡± The officer informed her in a kindly manner.


    (Damn, cause she really is pretty. And I wouldn¡¯t mind having her number¡­)


    Shaking away her inner emotion¡¯s commentary, she began explaining that, ¡°No. I just remembered that I had my camera going for my run in with the criminals, I only turned it on when I saw they¡¯d broken into the pawn shop,¡± She assured the officer, remembering what Decker had told her about illegal recordings. ¡°And while their faces were covered, it should still have the car and its license plate.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± The officer nodded before calling out to her partner. ¡°If you have a recording that can definitely help us out here. Though do you think can you send it to an email address instead of a phone?¡±


    ¡°Uh, yeah. Easy.¡± She nodded back as she pulled out her COMP before taking in the email address and the officer¡¯s badge number. ¡°There it¡¯ll be the one without a return address.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, this should be a big help in catching these two.¡± The officer assured her, taking the statement in stride and not giving her a chance to brag about her (brilliant) computer skills.


    ¡°Uh, sure no problem.¡± She told the officer, ¡°I don¡¯t suppose there¡¯s anything else I can help you with?¡±


    The female officer gave her an amused look for some reason, before shaking her head. ¡°No, it¡¯s mostly going to be us stuck standing around until the shop owner shows up.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    ¡°Look, like I said, you¡¯ve been a big help tonight.¡± The officer assured her once more. ¡°And while I do think you¡¯re too young to be doing this kind of thing, it¡¯s still nice to know that at least one of the street level masks is actually responsible enough to be a help.¡±


    She tried very hard not to blush at the praise.


    ¡°So, if you¡¯re going to be out here, just¡­ stay safe, okay?¡±


    ¡°Right, like I said. Slow and steady.¡± She nodded.


    ¡°Good. Now I¡¯m sure it¡¯s getting close to your curfew or something, so you can go ahead and get going.¡± The officer smiled before waving her off.


    ¡°Uh, right. Thanks.¡± She nodded once more, before making her exit.

 Turn 29

    Turn 29


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Hey, you doing alright?¡± She asked, as she and Izzy continued their lap around the block.


    ¡°Yeah, why wouldn¡¯t I be?¡± Izzy answered, with an unusual tenseness from the middle schooler.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s just you have your whole tournament thing in a couple of days.¡± She tried explaining. ¡°And well you¡¯ve, kind of been on edge the last few days.¡±


    Izzy rolled her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m just trying to get that last bit of practice in before my tournament.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh, you¡¯ve also got rings around your eyes worse than my own, hermanita.¡± She told her sister dryly.


    This time Izzy glared at her. ¡°You¡¯ve got rings around your eyes too.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and I spend half my nights playing video games when I should be sleeping.¡± She freely admitted, as she slowed to a stop that her sister was forced to match if she wanted to keep arguing.


    ¡°Look what exactly do you want here?¡±


    ¡°Well, if you¡¯re allowed to worry about me pushing myself, I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m allowed to do the same about you.¡± She pointed out blandly.


    Izzy scoffed. ¡°I know my limits a lot better than you do.¡±


    ¡°Clearly.¡± She nodded along, before slowly and obviously -by Izzy¡¯s standards- shoving her sister¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Which is why you didn¡¯t stop me from doing that.¡±


    ¡°I-mm.¡± Izzy growled at her.


    ¡°You¡¯re burning yourself out.¡± She told Izzy directly, deciding that anything else was either going to be ignored or end with her getting punched. ¡°You stopped me when you thought I was going too far, so I¡¯m stopping you now that I think you are.¡±


    ¡°And I told you it¡¯s different.¡± Izzy argued.


    ¡°And I¡¯m telling you it¡¯s not.¡± She argued right back. ¡°You¡¯ve spent all summer practicing for this thing, if you don¡¯t take a break you¡¯re not going to be in any shape for your tournament.¡±


    Izzy started glaring at her, and she met it without flinching. ¡°You. Need. A. Break.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± Izzy spat before storming off.


    ¡°Do you think we should tell mam¨¢ to keep an eye on her?¡± She asked once she was sure Izzy was far enough not to hear her. ¡°I mean if we keep pressing she¡¯ll probably just ignore us outright.¡±


    (Mm, it couldn¡¯t hurt.) Her inner logic admitted.


    (Yeah, let¡¯s be honest if she¡¯s anything like us she¡¯s going to outright ignore us the moment we leave the house.)


    ¡°Right,¡± She sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to mam¨¢ before we head out for the day.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1 XP to Mobility.


    --Mobility Currently: Lv.4 (9/10)


    -Izzy will take it easy before her tournament.


    ---


    After talking with her mother about Izzy, she decided to try and take her mind off of things by remedying the issue that forced her to uninstall her Alchemy () program. Of course to do this she had to spend most of the day raiding her nearby gathering spots for more Electronics to use.


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    Unfortunately, even after all of the time spent searching, she¡¯d only managed to find a portion of what she actually needed for her goal.


    ¡°Damn it. Where am I going to get the rest?¡±


    (Well we do have a bit of money saved up. It wouldn¡¯t hurt to just outright but them.)


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (2D6 = 7) Electronics


    ---


    *Bonus Scene*


    Deciding to heed her inner reason¡¯s suggestion, she took a detour to a nearby general store to pick up the last few pieces she needed with the money she¡¯d picked up over the last few weeks.


    (We might want to grab a few extra parts while we¡¯re here.) Her inner reason told her as she walked down an aisle wondering how many parts she could get out of a few cheap appliances.


    ¡°Maybe, but we don¡¯t want to blow too much money.¡± She pointed out in a whisper, more comfortable talking to her voices aloud, but still not wanting to be seen as crazy.


    (Meh, we¡¯re all mad here.)


    (Still if buy too few we¡¯ll probably be tapping ourselves out of parts given what we¡¯re trying to do with our COMP.)


    ¡°I know¡­¡± She agreed, grabbing as many parts as she was comfortable getting.


    As she started making her way towards the registers, something off to the side caught her attention. Standing at the end of an aisle was an ¡®on sale¡¯ sign surrounded by a number of sports helmets.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± She picked one of the helmets up, noting the padding inside of it. ¡°You know it wouldn¡¯t hurt to have a bit of padding for our head.¡±


    (Perhaps.)


    (Yeah, but that means we have to bundle up and cover our hair, and then we have to have that weight on our head all day. Isn¡¯t that the kind of thing that can give you migraines?) Her inner child whined.


    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, but maybe we can figure out something else with this at the very least?¡±


    (We might have to put a few of our parts back if it¡¯s too expensive.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    ¡°So, helmet, more electronics, or save some money and leave both?¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Spent $15 dollars on 3 Electronics, can vote to spend more at the bottom.


    A/N: The helmet thing is something someone suggested, so I figured I¡¯d give it a vote. There are a couple different things we can do with it if people do decide they want to get it, but don¡¯t want to wear a helmet.


    ---


    As she made her way through the hospital, arms loaded with parts, she tripped and stumbled on a piece of debris that she normally managed to avoid by being able to look at where she was stepping.


    (You know what, fuck it.)


    ¡°DM-1!¡± She called into her lair, her little spider drone peeking out a few minutes later. ¡°Start cleaning up the hospital.¡±


    The little drone looked around the hall at the various debris she hadn¡¯t bothered to clean up when she was setting up shop.


    She could almost swear the thing gave her a depressingly resigned nod.


    Scene Consequences


    -DM-1 is now cleaning the base, this gives a number of small (and currently unnamed) advantages the longer the base is cleaned for.


    ---


    With that settled, she began setting her various parts down and getting to work on another upgrade to her COMP so as to reinstall all of her programs.


    (You know from the look of this we aren¡¯t going to be able to fit any more memory upgrades into this model.) Her inner reason warned her.


    ¡°I know, but at the very least we have all of our programs and enough space for one or two more upgrades.¡± She told herself. ¡°After this we¡¯ll just have to make something for the base I guess.¡±


    (About time too, we¡¯ve been here almost two weeks and we haven¡¯t built a single upgrade for this place.) Her inner madness complained. (I mean come on! How are we going to have a kickass base if we don¡¯t actually work on it?!)


    This tirade continued for a good hour more, during which she pointedly ignored the voice in her head speaking gibberish. As any sane person should- (Wait¡­ Actually, no. You really should listen to us more.)


    ¡°¡­¡±


    (Maya?)


    ¡°¡­¡±


    (Maya!)


    ¡°¡­¡±


    (Maya!!!)


    Scene Consequences


    -COMP upgraded to Mk 1.5


    --Memory increased to 25.


    --Alchemy V1.2 reinstalled.


    --Current Memory: 23/25

 Turn 30

    Turn 30


    --- Maya ---


    Seeing as the previous day had depleted a large portion of her supplies as well as her funds, Maya decided it was once more time to begin scavenging for parts to make use of from around her house, as well as the houses of her neighbors.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m actually breaking into anyone¡¯s house.¡± She reminded herself. ¡°I¡¯m just walking around and seeing if anyone has thrown out their old TVs, computers, and whatever else.¡±


    (Still¡­)


    (This is so boring!) Her inner passion whined. (I mean at least when we were on patrol we could get in a fight with someone, but now we¡¯re just¡­ walking around!)


    ¡°It isn¡¯t that bad.¡±


    (Right, I¡¯m pretty sure as long as you don¡¯t get caught dumpster diving you¡¯re happy.) Her inner madness scoffed. (Some of us actually have standards to our quality of living!)


    ¡°I¡­ You¡¯re a voice inside my head.¡± She felt the need to point out. ¡°What exactly is your ¡®quality of living¡¯?¡±


    (To live vicariously through you of course.)


    (I mean we do feel what you feel, and we are a part of you so that does makes sense.) Her inner reason admitted with just a touch of reluctance.


    She paused for a moment, considering the implications of that statement before shaking her head. ¡°Okay, ignoring whatever personal crisis that gives me. We still need to find some parts if we¡¯re going to get anything done anytime soon.¡±


    (You mean like that game console over there?)


    ¡°I-what?¡± She turned to the side where a game console all of its cords and controllers had been thrown. ¡°Who would throw away a perfectly good console?!¡±


    (Actually, it looks like the system has been smashed against a wall.) Her inner logic noted as she picked the system up. (See those cracks in the chassis.)


    (Ugh, rage gamers, they have no respect for their equipment.)


    (Still their loss our gain.)


    ¡°But at what cost?¡± She wondered clutching the (poor baby) to her chest.


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    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (D6 = 6) Electronics.


    -Crit Gathered (D6 = 2) Plastic.


    ---


    Taking her haul back to the hospital, she decided it was time to finish up her upgrades to her Alchemy () program. Once completed this would make it so that bits of plastic that became too liquid-y after repeated use, would instead become putty like allowing her to remove her overused bits without rendering it useless.


    In fact, with a bit of time this more putty-like plastic would harden back to clay, before returning to the more solidified variant she used as a casing to her various bits of hardware. Allowing her to save a fair amount of the material.


    What¡¯s more, due to the way this program helped her better understand plastic it also gave her a few ideas on how to make better use of the plastic to make other things, like the plastic foam padding in the helmet she picked up from the store.


    ¡°Actually, thinking about it, if we could replicate that, it would definitely make our amor more comfortable.¡± She noted as she began molding the plastic into a variety of shapes.


    (That¡¯s a reasonable goal, though we¡¯ll probably have to tear the helmet apart to do that¡­)


    ¡°Probably.¡± She agreed, still stretching the plastic between her hands. ¡°Huh¡­ You know this really is like silly putty¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Alchemy () upgraded to V1.2.


    --All Plastic costs reduced by 1.


    ---


    Now normally, after finishing a project and finding herself with so much more time in the day, Maya would devote herself to starting or finishing another.


    Unfortunately, the project she¡¯d just completed allowed her to convert her store of plastics into an almost putty like material. One she proceeded to spend the next hour or so playing with as she made a number of shapes and figures before squishing them all back into a ball and starting the whole process over again.


    ¡°No wonder Seamus loves his playdough.¡± She laughed, crumbling a small pyramid into a sphere of plastic.


    (It¡¯s all so squishy!) Her inner child squee¡¯d.


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1XP to Art.


    --*Skill Level Up*: Art Lv. 2 (0/6)


    ---


    Eventually ¨C(thanks to her abysmally short attention span)- she grew bored of playing with her plastic putty, and began thinking of general improvements she could make to her kit. Such as a few modifications to her headset that would enable her to use her programs through her headset without needing to pull out her COMP.


    The trick to this however was not enabling her headset to read her eyes and facial expressions to run and target her programs, but rather leaving the program open and modular enough to let her use any program she might think up in the future.


    In order to do this, she had to register a large number of micro expressions by-


    ¡°Gah! My eyes!¡±


    (It burns!)


    (Why did you do this?!)


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t supposed to flash like that!¡± She cried rubbing at her burning retinas as her facial detection software misfired pointblank.


    (The light it betrays us once more!)


    Scene Consequences


    -UI Management Upgrade Progress


    --Eye Contact orders (1/2)

 Turn 31

    Turn 31


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Out of curiosity, why are we packing lunch for this thing? I mean isn¡¯t there supposed to be food there?¡± She wondered as she helped her mam¨¢ pack lunches for the entire family.


    ¡°S¨ª, but all of that is greasy overpriced concession stand garbage.¡± Her mother explained. ¡°It¡¯s much easier to just bring our own food, than pay ten dollars a person for something that¡¯ll give your father heartburn.¡±


    ¡°I guess that makes sense¡­¡± She admitted, knowing how tight her parent¡¯s budget already was with five kids.


    ¡°Mm-hm,¡± Her mother agreed, ¡°Besides the last thing we need is Izzy being thrown off her game, because some pendejo thought it¡¯d be a good idea to feed greasy food to a bunch of kids before their sports competition.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that could definitely be a problem¡­¡± She realized. ¡°Though isn¡¯t eating before a bunch of stressful exercises just as likely to mess her up?¡±


    ¡°Which is why she gets a fruit salad made of papayas, watermelons, bananas and other easily digested fruits that should give her plenty of energy without causing digestion cramps.¡± Her mother explained. ¡°So long as we keep her hydrated and full of electrolytes this should keep her fueled up for her competition and offset anything caused by her competition.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± That was useful information (especially since I¡¯m pretty sure hero work is going to be physically intensive if these last few nights are anything to go off of.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to Maya¡¯s mother, gained 4XP to cooking.


    --*Skill Level Up* Cooking Lv. 2 (3/6)


    ---


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m going to be honest. I have no idea what this competition is actually for.¡± She admitted as she, Vi, and Tommy made their way through the tournament hall. ¡°I mean I know Izzy does a bunch of martial arts stuff, but what exactly is this tournament for?¡± (Because if it¡¯s the fights Izzy and have been doing, I¡¯m fairly certain someone is getting slapped with child endangerment.)


    ¡°Um, it¡¯s some kind of mixed martial arts thing, without actually being the kind of fights people see in MMA.¡± Tommy explained in that way that did nothing to actually explain anything.


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± She nodded before turning to her elder sister. ¡°Smarter elder sibling, how does this bitch work exactly?¡±


    ¡°First, language there are kids here.¡± Vi told her gesturing to a nearby family.


    (Meh, they¡¯re not our kids.)


    (I don¡¯t believe that¡¯s the point¡­)


    ¡°And second, I¡¯m not entirely sure¡­¡± Her (not as smart as I thought) elder sibling confessed. ¡°I think it¡¯s some weird mix point system that¡¯s based on different fighting styles but given how I¡¯ve seen Izzy practicing her throws and punches on you I¡¯m not entirely sure how that would work.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you¡¯ve been sparring with Izzy?¡± Tommy interrupted with a concerned look. ¡°I mean I knew you were running with her, but you¡¯ve been fighting too?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s always fun to watch Maya literally get thrown around by a middle schooler.¡± Vi admitted a chuckle. ¡°Definitely takes the boredom off when I do my homework in the kitchen.¡±


    ¡°Hey! I was being a supportive older sister!¡± She argued, pointedly not mentioning the fact that those fights were more for her own benefit than anything else. ¡°Let¡¯s see you two spar with her.¡±


    ¡°Uh, no thanks.¡± Tommy laughed with a shake of his head. ¡°I¡¯m good where I am.¡±


    ¡°Right, so¡­ putting middle schoolers in MMA. Why did we okay this?¡± She wondered, just now realizing how much of a morality problem this might be.


    ¡°Like I said it¡¯s not actually MMA.¡± Tommy reminded her as they found their designated seats. ¡°And from what I remember on the old pamphlets, this whole thing has something to do with keeping martial arts alive in a world full of magic and mad science.¡±


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    (Humans are creatures of habit. They enjoy tradition, it gives them a sense of stability and comfort in a constantly shifting world.) Her inner reason explained for her in a way she could better understand. (Odds are that with the popularity of the different arts falling to the wayside in favor of magic and other new things, they decided to blend as many of the arts together as possible so as to try and preserve them.)


    ¡°I guess that make sense.¡± She admitted as she thought it over.


    (Especially since most people would rather watch two people throw lightning and fireballs back and forth or fight with giant killer robots rather than watch two guys punch and kick each other.) Her inner child chimed in.


    (That does sound more fun.) She agreed, wondering if it would be cruel to create a second drone minion just to have it fight the first one to the death.


    (Yes, yes it would.) Her inner logic chimed in blandly.


    (Doesn¡¯t change the fact that it would be awesome though.)


    Eventually her parents found them just as the tournament was beginning after wishing Izzy luck. And despite having little to no idea of how this whole tournament thing worked, she cheered Izzy on all the same as she beat up a bunch of other kids in a method that was significantly softer than anything she¡¯d done to Maya.


    (You know, you¡¯ve got to wonder if Izzy enjoyed beating us up more than was healthy¡­) Her inner passion pointed out as Izzy pushed a kid back rather than putting their arm into a lock that would dislocate their shoulder if they struggled too much.


    (That¡¯s¡­ not entirely implausible¡­) Her inner reason admitted reluctantly.


    (I¡­ I don¡¯t know how to feel about this revelation¡­)


    (Just¡­ just remember that we¡¯re better at fighting.) Her inner logic told her in an attempt to soothe her damaged ego.


    (Right¡­)


    But regardless of how out of proportion Izzy¡¯s treatment and training was in comparison to her actual fights in this tournament, her little sister continued her way through her fights with a number of victories. Going so far that after several hours of fighting on and off, Izzy was one of the final two contestants in the tournament.


    Unfortunately, after several hours of watching middle schoolers beat each other up, Maya¡¯s relatively short attention span was beginning to get antsy.


    (Do you think these fights would be more interesting if we gave each kid a pair of punch activated flamethrowers?) Her inner madness wondered.


    (It might make a decent avatar impression.) She admitted with an (irresponsible) level of consideration.


    (Let¡¯s not do that.) Her inner conscience implored her. (That is illegal and several different kinds of dangerous.)


    (But Izzy loved the avatar series, I¡¯m sure she¡¯d love to go Zuko on some punk.)


    (Given what we¡¯ve learned she¡¯d probably be closer to Azula¡­) She pointed out wryly.


    (Fair point.)


    (And you¡¯re both ignoring me.)


    (Yep.)


    (Yep.)


    (Of course¡­)


    Suddenly everyone around her began to cheer, causing her to look up and notice that Izzy was in fact the last one standing, leading her to jump up and cheer as if she¡¯d actually been paying attention.


    Scene Consequences


    -Izzy¡¯s Fighting Rank has increased to C.


    -Grown a bit closer to family.


    ---


    By the time everyone had made it back to the house after Izzy¡¯s tournament, she was beginning to feel that odd sort of hyper-ness that came about whenever she started to go too long without tinkering. The one that had the whispers out in full force tempting her to grab whatever she could get her hands on and turn it into something else.


    This is why the moment she was alone she took out her headset and began making modifications to her mask using a handful of electronics, and her welding tools to tear out some space in her face plate to fit said modifications.


    (We might want to consider giving the headset a full-scale rework with how many upgrades we¡¯re putting into it.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    ¡°Maybe, but that would make it a bit harder to fit further upgrades in as we need them.¡± She argued. ¡°Even if it makes the ones we have run easier, it¡¯ll still take more resources to make upgrades fit with a better model than the stuff we¡¯re using now.¡±


    (You mean the stuff held together by duct tape and weird whisper magic?)


    ¡°Yeah, that.¡± She nodded, as she locked the last piece of her filtration system in.


    While it wasn¡¯t the greatest filtration system, it would at the very least allow her to breath through most smoke and airborne debris without any trouble for a few minutes at a time. And due to her foresight the system had a scrubber that could clean itself with a few cranks, rather than requiring her to replace the filter every so often. Though said scrubber could cause more damage than it fixed if the air around her wasn¡¯t sufficiently clean enough when she used it.


    ¡°That just means we¡¯ll have to clean it outside of the smoke and chaos.¡± She told herself, as she put the headset on and began flicking through its various states to make sure she didn¡¯t break anything.


    (Which is probably the best place to be doing maintenance, all things considered.) Her inner logic agreed.


    (Eh, you don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.) Her inner madness scoffed. (Through the fire and the flame is where it¡¯s at!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Headset upgraded to Mk. 1.5


    --Headset can now filter out most toxins from the air for a short period of time. (Does not affect viral or corrosive effects.)


    -For reaching the half-way point on an invention you can now rebuild this invention into Mk. 2 for a powerful upgrade, though doing so will increase the price of future upgrades for this invention.


    (Note: An Invention can store up to 9 upgrades before it needs to be rebuilt. So, decide carefully if you want a couple more cheap upgrades, or if you want to save those upgrades to get to the next Mk faster and get the big one now.)

 Turn 32

    Turn 32


    --- Maya ---


    As she made her way down the stairs that morning she found Tommy sitting on the couch strumming a few notes on his guitar.


    ¡°Uh, is everything okay?¡± She asked, knowing he¡¯d usually play his music in either his room or the basement.


    ¡°Hmm, what?¡± Tommy looked at her before blinking. ¡°Oh, yeah. Everything ¡®s fine it¡¯s just mom ¡®s doing laundry, and I don¡¯t feel like playing over the washer.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± She nodded, before something occurred to her. ¡°Hey, uh, your concert thing is next up right?¡±


    ¡°Yep, three days away.¡± Tommy nodded back.


    ¡°Well, uh, you doing okay with all of that?¡± She felt the need to ask.


    ¡°Mm-hmm, doing just fine hermanita.¡± Tommy told her.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s just Izzy sort of went a little crazy leading up to her tournament.¡± She tried explaining, ¡°And I¡¯m not really sure how you¡¯re handling the build up to your own thing.¡±


    Tommy gave a bit of a laugh at that. ¡°Hate to break it to you, but I¡¯m a lot more laidback than Izzy¡¯s ball of wound up crazy.¡±


    (Wait, I thought we were the crazy in the family.)


    (Different kind of crazy.)


    ¡°Still¡­¡± She trailed off, not wanting to validate the voices in her head and their opinions on her sanity.


    (You just did.)


    ¡°Look me and my band have been practicing for this all summer.¡± Tommy leveled with her ¡°What¡¯s more this isn¡¯t my first big competition, and the fact is you win some, you lose some. Either way I¡¯ve got plenty of things other than just my music going on.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡± He¡¯d always devoted so much time to his music that she actually wasn¡¯t all that aware of what he did outside of it.


    ¡°Well I¡¯ve got my art thing too, since I, you know, do all of our single and album covers.¡± Tommy told her.


    ¡°Right, those are pretty good.¡± She told him, not wanting to let him know she¡¯d always thought he was paying an art student to do those instead.


    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± Tommy agreed. ¡°Something you need to learn hermanita, is that while it¡¯s good to have passions you still need hobbies or else those passions consume you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ surprisingly deep from a high school senior¡­¡± She admitted, just a little impressed.


    ¡°My other hobby is philosophy.¡± Tommy shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s good for lyric inspiration.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± She sat there listening to Tommy strum a few more chords, before her eyes slowly drifted around the room taking in the various photos and familial knick-knacks. Eventually though, her gaze wandered towards the kitchen and through it out the backdoor where she spotted (the little bitch.)


    ¡°I just remembered, if you don¡¯t need anything, then I need to go and kick the shit out of our little sister.¡± She told Tommy as she started making he way out of the room.


    ¡°Good luck with that.¡± Tommy told her before muttering, ¡°You¡¯re going to need it.¡± Just under his breath.


    Scene Consequences


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    -Got decent life advice.


    -Grown a bit closer to Tommy.


    ---


    ¡°Hey Izzy.¡± She greeted as calmly as she could. ¡°You holding up okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Izzy nodded from where she was sitting. ¡°You here to train today?¡±


    ¡°Depends on if you¡¯re still going crazy over your whole tournament thing.¡± She told her little sister as she took a seat next to her.


    ¡°Nah. I¡¯m doing alright.¡± Izzy admitted. ¡°Just got a little too obsessed with winning.¡±


    ¡°That you did. Any reason why?¡± She asked wrapping an arm around her baby sister and giving her a chance to defend herself from her impending execution.


    ¡°Mm, don¡¯t know.¡± Her -soon to be dead- little sister shrugged. ¡°I just really did not like the idea of losing.¡±


    (The only person a Williams is willing to lose to is another Williams.) Her inner madness confirmed in a sagely tone. (Which is why she¡¯ll be okay with us horrifically murdering her.)


    (Quite right.) Her inner reason agreed.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess that¡¯s why you spent the last couple of weeks kicking the shit out of me despite the fact that none of your fights were even half as violent as ours.¡± She usually tried to avoid cursing in front of her younger siblings, but she felt this was a valid time for an exception to that particular rule.


    It took Izzy a moment to process what she¡¯d said, but Maya knew exactly when her little sister realized how screwed she was by the subtle widening of her eyes.


    It took Izzy much less time to realize Maya already had her trapped.


    ¡°Wait, Maya-¡±


    Her little sister didn¡¯t get a chance to finish as Maya tackled her.


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1XP to Bluffing and Fighting


    --Currently: Bluffing Lv. 2 (1/6) and Fighting Lv. 5 (7/12)


    -Grown a bit closer to Izzy. (Since we, ya know, spared her or something.)


    ---


    (I¡¯m not sure if this is illegal, but it is shady as fuck.) Her inner passion warned her.


    ¡°Look the places we usually go for supplies are starting to run dry, and we aren¡¯t always going to luck out and find junk being thrown out on the side of the road.¡± She reminded herself. ¡°Besides raiding the recycled donations of an electronics store isn¡¯t illegal¡­ I think.¡±


    (Maybe, but like I said it is shady, and I¡¯m pretty sure that rent a cop we saw a few minutes ago would chase us off if he saw us.)


    ¡°We¡¯re not that suspicious.¡± She argued.


    (Chica, you¡¯re stealing from a recycling bin while talking to yourself. We have ascended to the point of being the crazy person no one wants to look at on the street corner.) Said crazy informed her.


    ¡°No, we¡¯re-¡±


    A nearby mother quickly pulled their child away while said child pointed at her as she dug through the recycling bin.


    ¡°I¡­ suddenly feel like I need to reevaluate several of my life choices.¡± She admitted.


    (I have been trying to get you to do that for the last month or so.) Her inner reason pointed out drolly. (I¡¯ve met minimal success.)


    (Eh, that just means I¡¯m better at my job than you.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (D6=5) Electronics.


    ---


    Setting a voice changer into her Headset was a relatively straightforward thing, that only involved her having to take out and mess with the speakers from some device she¡¯d already harvested for everything else. Or at least that¡¯s all it should¡¯ve taken¡­


    (Why exactly do we need to make a reality hacking program for a voice changer?) Her inner child wondered.


    ¡°We don¡¯t.¡± She admitted. ¡°But there are a couple of cool ideas I have for our voice changer that I think we could pull off with a bit of work.¡±


    (What kind of ideas?) Her inner reason asked with a fair amount of caution given who she was dealing with.


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±


    (Erm, it means what it means.) Her inner logic tactfully evaded. (Still, as I asked, what kind of ideas were you thinking?)


    ¡°The voice synthesizer from Arkham Knight.¡± She told herself plainly.


    (Are people actually stupid enough to- Yeah, sorry, it¡¯s not even a question of if people are stupid enough to fall for that kind of thing¡­) Her inner madness sighed with something resembling disappointment.


    Scene Consequences


    -Upgraded Headset to Mk. 1.6 and UI Management to V1.2


    --While faceplate is up voice will automatically be distorted in a way that hides identity from anyone who may hear it.


    -New Software Upgrades Available

 Turn 33

    Turn 33


    --- Maya ---


    She needed materials. Lot¡¯s of them if she wanted to complete her project for the day.


    Unfortunately, -as the day before showed- despite finding a superior source of electronics by raiding the recycling bins of the various electronics stores, she also learned that raiding these things brought negative attention upon her.


    (Yeah, I know we¡¯re crazy and desperate, but having a kid point it out does drive the home just how low we¡¯ve fallen.) Her inner madness pointed out depressively.


    (Moving on¡­)


    (Right.)


    So, in an attempt to circumvent too much credit building in a single day, she collected her Minion from her lab and with a few programs through her AI she had her minions help her run a series of-


    (Am I allowed to call them capers? I mean we¡¯re trying to be a hero.)


    (Well, I mean, we are raiding a bunch of donation bins here¡­)


    (Yeah, but that¡¯s big business saving money by letting people feel good about themselves.)


    (So, we¡¯re stealing from big businesses who conned the innocent?)


    (Yeah, sure, let¡¯s call it¡­ robin hood-ing.)


    (Well, we are robbin¡¯ the hood I suppose.)


    (Shut up.)


    (I feel I should point out that ¡®robin hooding¡¯ -while not real thing- is more importantly a verb rather than a noun.)


    (Fine, just figure something out.)


    (Yeah, this bit has been going on a little too long now.)


    (Right¡­ Ahem,)


    With the assistance of her Drone and AI, she proceeded to run a series of escapades across the city, using the two to rob bins and hack cameras respectively. Thus, allowing her to gather a formidable number of electronic parts, casings, and other useable materials.


    In fact, her haul was so good that she actually needed to make more than one return trip to her base to offload her¡­ requisitioned property.


    (You know if this is any indication, we would¡¯ve made a killing if we¡¯d stuck to the whole super criminal thing.) Her inner madness pointed out as the dropped off the last of said loads.


    (Perhaps, but I¡¯m also fairly certain we¡¯d be spending more time fighting should we have taken that route.) Her inner logic argued.


    (Pfft, you make that sound like a bad thing.) Her inner child laughed. (And we could¡¯ve gone after those kidnapping sons of bitches either way.)


    ¡°Yeah but having thought about it more. I think the villain thing would¡¯ve bitten us in ass eventually.¡± She admitted to herself, not entirely liking the conclusions she¡¯d come to. ¡°I mean, look at our competition in this town. A magic black market, guys who sell superpower drugs, and a gang that can create as many Deviants as it wants. At least as heroes we have backup from the police and hopefully the other heroes if we run into them. And that¡¯s not even bringing up the fact that we can quit being a mask whenever we want, when if we¡¯d joined a gang there¡¯d be no ¡®out¡¯.¡±


    The main reason she hadn¡¯t considered any of those points back when she first sparked out, was due to the fact that she¡¯d been riding something of a power high those first few weeks.


    ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m glad all of that¡¯s toned down some.¡± She admitted remembering how all over the place and panicky she¡¯d been.


    (I suppose building as much as we have has worked as a sort of medication for whatever madness our powers bring forth.) Her inner reason figured.


    (Uh, are we saying we¡¯re not a unstoppable super genius?) Her inner passion asked, with a hint of wariness.


    ¡°What? Fuck no.¡± She laughed, with just a tinge of madness. ¡°We¡¯re smarter than everyone else in this city, and we¡¯re going to prove that by dismantling the gangs one by one, until we¡¯re the only rogue superpower in town.¡±


    (Oh, phew,) Her inner madness sighed with a relieved chuckle. (Just the direction that was going¡­ I thought we were doing some weird character-building moment or some shit.)


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Yeah, no, no.¡± She waved away her other self¡¯s concerns. ¡°I¡¯m just saying, making decisions while riding a power high is probably a bad idea going forward.¡±


    (Oh, yes, that¡¯s probably a very wise decision.) Her inner conscience agreed with just a touch of sass.


    (Aw, but that¡¯s when we have the most fun!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (3D6 = 10) Electronics.


    --*Crit Rolled* Gathered (D6 = 6) Plastic


    ---*Crit-Crit Rolled* Gathered (D6=5) Electronics gathered.


    A/N: I ended up rolling twice here, once when I brainstormed this chapter and once when I actually got to writing it. I know for a fact this was significantly better than that first roll. Also, this scene evolved in a way I wasn¡¯t quite expecting, but:


    -Grown a bit closer to the voices in our head.


    ---


    With all of her parts gathered together, Maya got to work building the first major upgrade for her base.


    (And it only took us two weeks to do it too!) Her inner passion cheered sarcastically.


    ¡°We had other priorities.¡± She told her inner child. ¡°Family stuff, patrolling, things like that.¡±


    (You mean things that took up about a fifth of our time?)


    ¡°Alright ignoring you now.¡±


    (That¡¯s what I usually do.) Her inner reason admitted.


    (Fuck you guys.)


    (Weren¡¯t you the one that established that was insult to yourself?) Her inner logic wondered aloud.


    (Why you little bit-)


    Shaking her head, she doubled down on her work.


    Given the frequency she found herself running out of room on her COMP for further programming, she decided it was time to create a sever specifically designated for any programs she didn¡¯t need on her in the middle of a random fight, -such as her tool programs for molding plastic and designing her few organic projects or even the Minion Protocols she so rarely used- thus freeing more space for more programs.


    The beauty of this project however was in the fact that even though she couldn¡¯t offload her combat and information programs, the fact that she didn¡¯t have to work to compress as much memory as possible into a device she had to carry around, meant that she could in fact fit more memory space into her storage server. (Even if said server is the size of a small fridge¡­)


    (Yeah, we definitely aren¡¯t going to be moving this thing on our own¡­) Her inner passion admitted, now that she was actually paying attention to the voices in her head again.


    (Well, the point of a base of operations is to hold everything that we can¡¯t move with ease.) Her inner logic reminded.


    (Still what if we do have to move it? Like if our less-than-lively neighbor decides she wants us gone?)


    ¡°Eh, hold on I¡¯ve got an idea. DM-1!¡± She called, getting the drone to crawl out from whatever corner of the lab it had hidden away in. ¡°Try lifting this thing.¡±


    The little drone looked at the server than back at her, and she could¡¯ve sworn if it had more expressive features it would be telling her, ¡®Yeah, don¡¯t know why you thought that would be happening, boss.¡¯


    (Note to self: If we ever program speech into our minions have them call us boss in a suitable accent.)


    (Noted.)


    ¡°Okay, well how many drones do you think it would take to move this thing?¡± She asked herself with a clap of her hands.


    (Mm, probably a dozen or so.) Her inner reason, well, reasoned out.


    (We could probably do it with half if we give them some team skills.) Her inner madness pointed out. (Sure, we¡¯d be pushing the whole Skynet thing by teaching them teamwork, but meh, they work for us right now.)


    ¡°Those are both valid points.¡± She agreed, deciding whether or not it was worth it.


    (On that note, am I the only one to notice all of the dried blood on our drone minion?)


    Scene Consequences


    -Program Server Mk.1 now in use with 25 Memory.


    --All Tool and Minion programs have been offloaded from the COMP freeing up 5 Mem.


    --Server Memory use is 5/25.


    ---


    *Bonus Scene*


    She turned to her minion and noticed that (yes, that is dried blood¡­)


    ¡°Uh, DM-1?¡± She asked a little weakly, gaining the drone¡¯s attention once more. ¡°Why do you have dried blood on you?¡±


    The drone stared at her for a moment, during which she eventually realized her drone didn¡¯t actually know what blood was.


    ¡°Right, uh¡­¡± She grabbed a nearby rag she¡¯d used to clean her lab at some point, before wiping at the dried blood and showing it to the little minion. ¡°Where, uh, where did this come from?¡±


    DM-1 turned its camera to the rag before turning around and running off to something.


    Reluctantly, she followed her minion to another dead rat, one that had a small trail of blood showing that her little (murder machine) had been moving the rat prior to her calling it.


    ¡°Um, where exactly were you taking this thing?¡± She asked the drone more than a little nervous now.


    Nodding to her, DM-1 began dragging the dead rat towards a nearby counter, where -using a bunch of debris arranged into a makeshift ramp- the little drone managed to pull its cargo onto the counter, where it then proceeded to push it towards and then into her Bio-pod.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    (¡­)


    (¡­)


    DM-1 looked towards her for approval as the Bio-pod somehow digested the rat, and not the first one if the device¡¯s material counter was to be believed.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    (¡­)


    (Okay, before I was just joking about the whole Skynet/Zerg thing, but now I¡¯m actually concerned¡­)


    Scene Consequences


    -DM-1 has apparently been feeding dead rats to our Bio-Pod, which has in turn fed into this horror scenario by digesting them.


    --Gained 5 Organics (And nightmares, lots of those coming this way.)

 Turn 34

    Turn 34


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Okay, is it me or are you kicking my ass harder than usual?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but ask as she picked herself off the floor.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know what you mean.¡± Izzy told her hoping foot to foot.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s like you¡¯ve I don¡¯t know leveled up or something¡­¡± She tried explaining.


    Her little sister stopped, giving her an odd look. ¡°Uh, Maya, have you been playing video games until you pass out again?¡±


    (We had to fit in our game time at some point.) Her inner logic reasoned.


    (Sleep is for the weak!) Her inner passion declared for all -of her- to hear.


    ¡°No¡­¡± She trailed off, already knowing she¡¯d failed that Bluff check.


    ¡°Maya, what did I say about taking care of yourself?¡± Izzy asked, her shaking shoulders far more intimidating than any middle schooler had the right to be.


    ¡°To be fair I am fitting in a ton of power naps throughout the day.¡± She pointed out, backing away from the tiny terror trudging towards her. ¡°Wait, hold up. Back off! Izzy!¡±


    By the end of their sparring session she was more than convinced Izzy had in fact leveled up her ass kicking skills. (The shoe print on said ass proves that much at least¡­)


    ¡°Ouchies¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to Izzy gained 4XP to fighting.


    --Currently: Lv. 5 (11/12)


    ---


    ¡°Ah, mija, there you are!¡± Her mother stopped her as she was about to leave the house.


    ¡°Uh, what¡¯s up?¡± She asked, feeling like her plans for the day were about to be overwritten like the last time she left Seamus alone with her system.


    (So many hours lost¡­) Her inner child wept.


    (At least we did better on the next playthrough.) Her inner logic attempted to console.


    (But it wasn¡¯t even the game we left him on!)


    ¡°Well my schedule has cleared up a bit for the day, and I¡¯ve decided to try and teach you something about cooking.¡± Her mam¨¢ explained dragging her into the kitchen.


    ¡°But, uh, why?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already covered all of this.¡± Her mother reminded her. ¡°If you want to get through life you need to know how to cook for yourself and your family.¡±


    ¡°But I already know how to cook!¡± She couldn¡¯t help but argue.


    ¡°Like three meals,¡± Her mother scoffed. ¡°That¡¯s nowhere near enough for a healthy diet.¡±


    ¡°But I-¡±


    ¡°Nah, nah, nah, that¡¯s enough buts.¡± Her mother told her setting in front of the stove. ¡°Now it¡¯s time for cooking!¡±


    ¡°But-¡±


    ¡°Nah!¡±


    Scene Consequences


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    -Thanks to mam¨¢ gained 4XP to cooking.


    --*Skill Level Up* Cooking: Lv. 3 (1/8)


    ---


    By the time she managed to escape her mother¡¯s clutches, it was a bit too late to make the trip to her lab and back, so instead of starting a new project like she¡¯d intended, she proceeded to pull out her laptop and finish working on a program she¡¯d begun a few days prior.


    (Alright, and we¡¯re sure this won¡¯t melt our eyes out of our sockets this time?)


    She couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes as she adjusted her headset on her face a bit. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be such a drama queen.¡±


    (To be fair the last time we did this you nearly blinded us.)


    ¡°That¡¯s only because I mis-calibrated the facial scanner.¡± She scowled at herself. ¡°And this time I made sure to account for the fact that the visor¡¯s UI is projecting light as well as the scanner, so there shouldn¡¯t be anything too bad.¡±


    (So instead of blinding ourselves, we¡¯re making it so we¡¯ll need glasses in a few years?)


    ¡°Meh, we can just give ourselves laser eye surgery if it gets too bad.¡± She told herself, waving any concerns towards her long-term vision.


    (And I¡¯m getting Dead Space 2 flashbacks. Fun.)


    (Honestly, it¡¯s a miracle none of our siblings need glasses, given how our father has them.) Her inner logic pointed out.


    ¡°Technically that¡¯s a degradation thing.¡± She explained, using her eyes to shift through a mostly empty menu on her HUD. ¡°Our family¡¯s vision deteriorates faster than most, so either way we might need glasses in another decade if we don¡¯t do the whole eye surgery thing. Dad says he didn¡¯t need them until he was almost thirty, though they said he should¡¯ve started wearing them in high school.¡±


    (Now that you mention it, doesn¡¯t Vi wear contacts?)


    ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s actually nearsighted as hell.¡±


    (Hmm, this whole split memory thing is beginning to annoy me.) Her inner reason admitted with just a touch of irritation.


    ¡°Eh, don¡¯t go looking at me. I don¡¯t get how any of this works beyond you two are me, and the whispers tell me how to make cool shit.¡± She told her more logical self as she began looking around. ¡°Like these things.¡±


    With a slight twitch of her eye, a small filling circle appeared over her desk, before vanishing as soon as the circle filled and replacing itself with a small box that looked right above it telling her all sorts of things about the piece of furniture.


    Looking around her room she began to fire off Scan () after Scan (), proving that she could now run the program through her headset.


    ¡°Oh, this is so cool!¡± She squee¡¯d. ¡°All we¡¯ve got to do is make it passive, and it¡¯ll be just like a video game!¡±


    (I feel this isn¡¯t going to help our distinction between reality and fiction at all¡­)


    (Pfft, reality is overrated.)


    Scene Consequences


    -UI Management upgraded to V1.3


    --Can now use programs and order minions without drawing the COMP.


    ---Currently affected programs: Simple AI (), Scan (), and Drone Minions


    -*Skill Level Up* Reality Hacking: Lv. 5 (0/12)


    ---


    Law was a boring subject as she quickly discovered.


    Or at the very least the people who wrote laws saw fit for some ungodly reason to implement their own sub language of English to write said laws in a way that made them barely comprehensible to anyone who didn¡¯t already have a law degree.


    (That¡¯s how they keep lawyers in business. No one likes them, so they created a difficult language and made it so other people needed them to do their job. That way they will never die out!) Her inner madness declared in a method worthy of the title known as a ¡®conspiracy theory¡¯. (But it is a conspiracy by the law!)


    (It¡¯s far more likely people simple need the language to be a specific as possible so as to keep people from misinterpreting it.) Her inner logic argued. (Well that and to slip in loopholes for big business to screw everyone over.)


    ¡°Look it doesn¡¯t matter how the law is fucking us over, just that it is!¡± She told the voices in her head. ¡°Now shut up all of this legalese is already giving me a headache without all of your arguing.¡±


    (¡­)


    (¡­)


    (Out of curiosity why aren¡¯t you just looking up laws related to independent heroes?) her inner reason questioned.


    ¡°That is what I¡¯m doing!¡±


    (Uh, yeah, but you¡¯re looking at the complicated legal stuff. All we really need is the summary and public policy.) Her inner passion pointed out. (We don¡¯t actually need to know how the law works, so much as whether or not we¡¯re breaking it.)


    (Quite.)


    She blinked, before looking at the wall of text she¡¯d spent the last hour slogging through and opening a second page on her laptop where she instead searched for a ¡®Is it legal for heroes to (blank)?¡¯ version of the law document she¡¯d pulled up. Within minutes she found a much simpler version of the law she was looking up, and while there was wiggle room for context, the page itself was significantly easier to understand.


    Upon seeing this, she continued to stare at the screen blankly for another good minute before inhaling deeply and-


    ¡°FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1XP to Law.


    --Currently: Lv. 2 (5/6)

 End of Summer Festival (Pt. 1)

    End of Summer Festival (Pt. 1)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Okay, and that should be everything.¡± She told herself, hiding what gear she¡¯d decided to bring with her underneath a towel and a pile of drinks and snacks at the bottom of her old backpack.


    (So, we¡¯re not bringing the armor?)


    ¡°Carrying a backpack full of ¡®snacks¡¯ around is one thing, but carrying a bag weighed down by actual metal? Someone would comment and we¡¯d have to leave everything behind.¡± She explained, zipping the bag shut.


    (Sensible enough.)


    ¡°Also, I don¡¯t feel like carrying around ten pounds of metal all day just in case something happens.¡± She admitted, shifting the weight of the bag as she put it on.


    (Okay, I can get behind being lazy.) Her inner child agreed. (Now let¡¯s get moving we¡¯ve got a party to get to!)


    (It¡¯s not actually a party.) Her inner logic felt the need to point out.


    (If there are people gathered to have fun it is a party.) Her inner passion argued soundly.


    (I suppose¡­)


    ¡°You got everything chica? Dad ¡®s back from dropping off Tommy, and mam¨¢ says it¡¯s time to load up.¡± Vi told her, before noticing Maya¡¯s backpack. ¡°What¡¯s with the bag?¡±


    ¡°Bringing drinks and snacks of my own, since festival prices are obscene.¡± She explained.


    ¡°You know we¡¯ve already got a bag packed.¡± Vi reminded her with a wry grin. ¡°Mom just as much of a cheapskate as you.¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    She couldn¡¯t help but scoff at that. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure everyone but Dad and Tommy are the same way.¡±


    ¡°So, the girls?¡± Vi clarified.


    ¡°Well we are the smarter sex after all.¡± She pointed out in an overly haughty tone, getting a laugh out of her sister.


    ¡°Whatever.¡± Vi shook her head with a grin as she turned to leave. ¡°Either way, get a move on hermanita, you know how impatient mam¨¢ gets.¡±


    ---


    ¡°So, everyone remembers the rules, right?¡± Her mam¨¢ asked, once everyone had their festival bands, and a few dollars she was sure her parents had been saving up all summer.


    ¡°Keep an eye on the younger kids.¡± Vi answered off handedly.


    ¡°Right.¡± Her mam¨¢ nodded, before pointing at Maya.


    ¡°Don¡¯t wander too far from everyone, and if I start feeling an ¡®episode¡¯ call and let someone know.¡± She answered, before remembering what her dad told her last year. ¡°Oh, and don¡¯t talk to any boys!¡±


    Her mother blinked once before glaring at the husband who refused to meet her eyes.


    ¡°Uh, Izzy?¡± Her dad asked with just a hint of desperation.


    ¡°Stay where someone can see me and break the kneecaps of anyone who tries to touch me.¡± Izzy supplied in her own bored tone.


    ¡°Good enough.¡± Her mother told them, still glaring at her husband as she shifted Seamus on her hip. ¡°Tommy¡¯s battle of the bands thing is in a couple of hours, and I want all of you there. Got it?¡± Maya and her sisters all nodded, getting their own nod back. ¡°Good, have fun and stay safe.¡±


    As her family scattered she vaguely caught her mother rounding on her father with something about hindering her future grandkids (and I¡¯m just going to go and pay attention to something else now.)


    (That¡¯s probably best for our sanity.)


    (Yeah, we¡¯ve already given that thing one hell of a beating.) Her inner madness agreed, before pausing in thought. (Wonder if that¡¯s why she won¡¯t talk to us?)


    That was a rabbit hole she didn¡¯t feel like exploring just yet. So instead she took a look around the street festival the city threw every so often in a mixed attempt to ring up tourism and make the people forget about the city¡¯s various problems. Taking note of the numerous stalls, games, and attractions people were visiting or walking between, as well as the various directions the rest of her family members were heading in as they set off to do their own things.


    ¡°Alright, since we¡¯ve got a couple of hours, what should we do first?¡±

 End of Summer Festival (Pt. 2)

    End of Summer Festival (Pt. 2)


    --- Maya ---


    As her family scattered to the four winds of the festival, she decided the first thing she should do is check in with Tommy. (After all he¡¯s the one competing in this year¡¯s festival, and with the way his equipment goes he might need us to fix something.)


    With this destination in mind she started making her way through the festival ground, towards the area they usually held the music competitions when they threw these festivals every few months to keep morale and tourism up.


    Unfortunately for this goal however, her mentally ambiguous disorder began to act up halfway there as she came across a large banner declaring the portion of the festival next to her as the M.A.D. science fair.


    Such events were relatively common in a city as large as hers, because while only the more powerful Deviants tended to become Masks, that didn¡¯t change the fact that there was still a large number of non-mask Deviants in the world. And while she wasn¡¯t sure how the different power levels really measured between the other Deviancies, she¡¯d at least learned that when it came to other M.A.D.s there power level could be determined by the amount of assistance an M.A.D.s whispers provided them.


    Which in her case was admittedly more than the average given how many fields she¡¯d already dabbled in, as well as her more esoteric specialty in reality hacking.


    The previous few years whenever her family attended one of these things, she¡¯d only ever give this section of the festival a cursory glance as she spent more time focused on all of the carnival rides they brought in. This year however, she was an M.A.D. and as such held something of curiosity towards what her fellows were capable of, as well as what the city deemed publicly acceptable.


    ¡°Well, I mean we¡¯ve got a couple hours, so a little detour won¡¯t hurt us too much.¡± She told herself, in justification of said curiosity.


    (Why? I mean we¡¯re smarter than any of them, so what¡¯s the point?) Her inner insanity objected.


    (Well, you never know. It¡¯s fully possible they may¡¯ve come up with a decent idea.) Her inner logic argued.


    (We can already build like half of this junk.) Her inner passion scoffed as she looked around at a number of small stands displaying all sorts of things, the whispers confirming her other self¡¯s words as they hinted at how to build all of it. Or at least everything that was actually an M.A.D.¡¯s work, given how there were a couple of people handing out things the whispers refused to comment on.


    (Which is a shame because that Jason guy looks like he has some interesting wind up-)


    So, consumed with the world around her, she ended up walking right into someone.


    ¡°Ah, sorry, wasn¡¯t looking where I was going.¡± She apologized before jumping back as she caught sight of a young redhead around her age wearing a painted welder¡¯s mask.


    (Mask get the hand cannons!) Her inner madness screamed.


    ¡°Whoa, didn¡¯t mean to scare you!¡± The other girl told her hands raised, as Maya began reaching for the zipper to her bag.


    (Let¡¯s not overreact here.) Her inner reason spoke, as her heartrate began to settle.


    Seeing as the other girl wasn¡¯t attacking her, she let herself relax. ¡°Sorry, just¡­ the mask.¡± She gestured to her own face.


    ¡°Yeah, no, no I, I get it. I¡¯m the one who should be apologizing, for scaring you.¡± The girl assured her, before sliding the mask off and revealing freckles beneath her green eyes. ¡°The mask thing is tradition, but it still occasionally freaks people out if they get too close without noticing it.¡±


    ¡°So, you¡¯re not a mask?¡± She made sure.


    ¡°No.¡± The girl shook her head with a laugh. ¡°Like I said, the whole mask thing is an old tradition, from way back when Deviants were persecuted left and right. It¡¯s actually why the original Masks had masks in the first place, so that no one could tell who they were when they gathered like this.¡± The masked girl explained.


    ¡°That¡­ makes sense.¡± She guessed.


    ¡°It¡¯s nowhere near as bad for us these days, but a few of the younger kids still like to wear them and use nicknames during these public get togethers for fun and the older guys because, well¡­ there¡¯s always that one guy, you know?¡± The girl chuckled a little awkwardly herself.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Maya nodded in understanding. ¡°Well, if uh, you¡¯ve all got nicknames, what¡¯s yours?¡±


    ¡°Kim.¡± The girl answered easily enough, and she must¡¯ve made a face of some kind because the other girl laughed. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not really into the whole thing, but the masks are part of the whole Deviant gimmick so¡­¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­ well, uh¡­ I¡¯m Maya.¡± She offered, knowing she came off a little awkwardly, but unable to think of anything else to say.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s nice to meet you Maya.¡± Kim nodded, slipping her mask back on. ¡°Since you were a little spaced out for a minute there, is there something in particular you¡¯re looking for? I am part of the club that runs this part of the fair, so I should be able to help you out.¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh, nothing in particular. I was just sort of wandering around a bit.¡± She admitted, feeling a bit of heat to her face given how distracted she¡¯d gotten over nothing at all.


    ¡°Hm, well, in that case why don¡¯t I give you the tour.¡± Kim offered.


    ¡°A tour?¡± She repeated.


    ¡°Yeah, after all I did give you a scare there, so I should try make up for that.¡± Kim explained cheerfully.


    ¡°Um, sure?¡± She agreed, more confused than not.


    ¡°Great, so let¡¯s see¡­¡± Kim looked around a bit before grabbing Maya¡¯s wrist and dragging her to a nearby area with a small crowd of cheering people gathered around a fenced in area where the scream of power tools could be heard beyond the crowd¡¯s cheers. ¡°This one is always a hit!¡±


    (Shit, is this what we¡¯re like during a manic episode?) She couldn¡¯t help but wonder. (If so we owe everyone an apology.)


    (And hugs because they clearly love us.) Her inner child added.


    Moving towards a gap in the crowd, they were able catch sight of a number of small machines seemingly trying to kill each other in a small metal arena.


    ¡°This is our regularly scheduled battle bot tournament.¡± Kim explained making a theatrical gesture. ¡°We typically run two tournament through the day, the first one isn¡¯t a tournament so much as it is a bunch of random fights between our club¡¯s more mechanically minded M.A.D.s with them keeping tally of their wins. Since they expect them to get torn up through the day, most of the bots are designed for easy repair and maintenance.¡±


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    ¡°That¡¯s smart.¡± She commented, wondering how well DM-1 would hold up against the various machines, a few of which were looking as advanced as her drone.


    (He¡¯d send them all to hell.) Her inner madness cackled.


    (Probably not that well, given he¡¯s against armored opponents. After all we built him without any weapons, and we¡¯ve yet to give him any tools he could fight with in place of them.) Her inner reason argued.


    ¡°M.A.D. stands for mentally augmented deviant.¡± Kim reminded her with a snort of amusement.


    ¡°Right.¡± She nodded, again wondering if her jokes were this bad when she was in her manic state.


    (No because we¡¯re actually funny.) Her inner passion scoffed.


    (This is likely correct.) Her inner logic agreed.


    ¡°Any way, our other tournament is an actual tournament, where we invite a couple of non-Deviant mechanics to duke it out with us.¡± Kim told her as the current match was brought to a close. ¡°And while they aren¡¯t quite as easily fixed as ours, they still put up a pretty solid fight when they give it their all, a few of them have even pulled off a couple of victories here and there.¡±


    ¡°Huh, well uh, where to next?¡± She asked as the crowd began to disperse.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve got a couple more attractions that always get a few viewers.¡± Kim answered, seemingly thinking it over. ¡°Like we¡¯ve got this portable garden over there, with a few cool plants. Though that one is probably best at night¡­ What about Candace¡¯s candies, those are usually pretty good¡­¡±


    Kim continued to list a few more attractions, before Maya felt herself asking, ¡°Are there really that many M.A.D.s in your club?¡± Because while she knew a city had a fair number of low level Deviants, she didn¡¯t think they¡¯d have this many in one place without being a known organization.


    ¡°Oh, um, there¡¯s about a dozen or so of us right now, though none of us are quite up to what people consider ¡®Mask¡¯ level.¡± Kim admitted before gaining a wry grin. ¡°Which honestly is probably a good thing all things considered.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    Kim gave her a look almost as if she was considering something, before eventually shaking her head. ¡°Most people don¡¯t realize it, but mask level Deviants tend to bring problems to those below that level.¡±


    She frowned. ¡°What do you mean?¡± (Because we resent that fact damn it!)


    ¡°Well, you¡¯ve heard those rumors about gangs forcibly recruiting Deviants, right?¡± The other M.A.D. asked, before continuing when Maya nodded. ¡°Okay, well, they¡¯re only really interested in higher level Deviants. The ones at D-Rank and above, the rest of us they tend to leave to our own devices so long as we stay out of their way. However, if we get between them and say a C-Rank Deviant¡­¡±


    She was able to fill in the rest. ¡°They won¡¯t hesitate to knock you down.¡±


    ¡°Worse, they might see ¡®potential¡¯ in the rest of us.¡± Kim sighed, clearly not liking the situation. ¡°It doesn¡¯t happen often, but a couple of the older timers say it was a real problem back in their generation. What¡¯s even worse than that is the fact that given our lower level, even with the entire club we¡¯re not a match for a single C-Rank with a grudge.¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­¡± She apologized, not knowing what else to say, especially since she was pretty sure with a couple of months she could easily become a C-Rank threat.


    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s not like it¡¯s your fault.¡± Kim shrugged. ¡°Either way, enough with the darker topics, we¡¯re at a festival so let¡¯s act like it.¡±


    With that statement in mind, Kim reached into her jacket before pulling out a large round ball of fur with a reddish pattern on it. ¡°These guys never fail to cheer someone up.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Just wait.¡± Kim told her before scratching at the ball. ¡°Come on little guy, it¡¯s time to wake up.¡±


    The little ball began to shake under the M.A.D.¡¯s ministrations before unraveling into a hamster like creature with a yellow mark on its chest that proceeded to yawn widely, before pawing at its eyes.


    ¡°Aw, it¡¯s so cute!¡± She cried getting the little creature to look up at her before giving her a shy wave.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Kim laughed setting her critter on her shoulder, where it sat down and held onto her red hair with a single paw to keep balance. ¡°You have no idea how much work it was getting the hamsters to evolve into this little guy.¡±


    ¡°Evolve?¡± Maya asked, hearing the faintest of whispers in the back of her mind.


    ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t do that whole one and done thing a lot of the bigger M.A.D.s do, so instead I do small but controlled mutations each generation that allows me to slowly evolve them.¡± Kim explained, before pausing. ¡°Or rapidly given how slow evolution usually works.¡±


    ¡°Huh, going off of that¡­¡± The whispers gave her a few numbers, and a surprising amount of information on hamsters in general. ¡°You could do about four generations a year.¡±


    ¡°Huh, you must know your hamsters¡­¡± Kim admitted, a hint of something in her voice. ¡°But uh, it¡¯s closer to eight. One of the first things I did was accelerate their life cycle after setting up their conditional sterility.¡±


    That made her frown as she considered that possibility. ¡°But wouldn¡¯t that mean they only live for like a year?¡±


    ¡°I have a counter mutation that lets them live for a decade in exchange for complete sterility.¡± Kim told her. ¡°It usually means I need to know a couple weeks in advance if someone wants one, but since hamsters breed years round and I saw no reason to get rid of that little trait, it¡¯s not a big problem.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you sell these little guys? Isn¡¯t that illegal?¡± She wasn¡¯t a hundred percent on the law, but she was fairly certain this counted as selling an M.A.D. weapon (of adorableness!)


    (Not the time!)


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a license. As long as I renew it every few months I¡¯m allowed to sell them, myself or to an authorized vendor. Though that¡¯s only because of the sterility thing,¡± Kim admitted. ¡°Without that it would be frowned upon a lot harder.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a license for that kind of thing?¡± She asked, because that would make her own bio-experiments -as rare as they are- a lot less morally ambiguous. (Though god still won¡¯t be happy with us.)


    ¡°Yeah, most people don¡¯t realize it but you can get a license through the government for most lower rankings, the higher level stuff you need either the Hero¡¯s Guild or Sanctuary to sign off on for safety reasons.¡± Kim explained.


    (It makes sense for the government to want to offer certification, it encourages other M.A.D.s to follow the law that accepts them, and lets the government keep a record of who has what abilities.) Her inner logic broke down thoughtfully. (Both of which are better than outright outlawing them or having random M.A.D.s running around without anything to keep them in check.)


    ¡°Huh¡­¡±


    ¡°Anyway, before we got into the technical stuff, I was introducing you to Hammy here.¡± Kim reminded her, changing the topic back to the little critter on her shoulder as it once more waved at her.


    ¡°Oh, right¡­ So as cute as he is, is he just a mutant hamster or¡­?¡± She asked, knowing that if she had the opportunity to show her inventions off to her family she¡¯d do so without hesitation.


    ¡°Well, admittedly the real trick was making him smarter than most dogs, but luckily most rodents are already decently smart so giving him a little bump wasn¡¯t too much trouble.¡± Kim explained, scratching the top of Hammy¡¯s head.


    She frowned at that. ¡°Isn¡¯t giving an animal an IQ boost a bad idea?¡±


    ¡°Only if you¡¯re a bad parent, or in a horror movie, otherwise it¡¯s only a problem if you push them past about that of an eight-year old.¡± Kim explained giving her a serious look. ¡°According to an agreed moral standard, that¡¯s a fair bit below a chimpanzee, and if you push beyond that you start to reach a moral event horizon giving an animal sapience. Honestly, the only reason I¡¯m okay boosting them as much as I do is because I make sure they¡¯re never without me or another one of my Critters for more than a few hours.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ okay.¡± She nodded, understanding exactly why Kim was passionate about this, especially after her own dabbling with DM-1¡¯s intelligence as well as the terror she¡¯d developed after just one or two organic experiments on her end.


    ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s just¡­ I sort of get passionate about this you know?¡± Kim shook her head before scratching at Hammy¡¯s head. ¡°I mean, they¡¯re living creatures and I made them, and I don¡¯t know, that just means something to me.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, no. I get it.¡± She assured her fellow M.A.D. ¡°You¡¯re their creator and you care about them, that makes perfect sense.¡± It was also half of the reason she hadn¡¯t been able to bring herself to decommission DM-1 after his clearly murderous tendencies. She made him, and it was wrong of her to just kill him.


    ¡°Heh, you¡¯d be surprised how few M.A.D.s feel that way.¡± Kim told her softly.


    She wasn¡¯t sure what to say to that, and she knew if she didn¡¯t say anything, then there¡¯d be a silence blanketing them in but a moment, so instead she asked, ¡°Have you done anything to them besides messing with their lifespans and IQs?¡±


    Kim seemed to blink, before nodding in acceptance of her blatant change of topic. ¡°There was one other trick I taught Hammy and his siblings. I even got permission to enter them in another one of the festival¡¯s tournaments.¡±


    ¡°Oh, which one?¡± She asked as Kim pulled out and woke two more of her critters, one with blueish pattern on its fur and another with a greenish one.


    ¡°Just them give them a second.¡± Kim told her as the critters lined up on her arm. ¡°Okay, a one, a two, a three, four.¡±


    ¡°Hit it, boys.~¡± A smooth voice called out from an unexpected source.


    ¡°Bup bup bup bup-pa-pow~¡± A series of jazzy instruments rang through the air, the source clear to all who could see.


    (Well, Tommy ¡®s got his work cut out for him.)

 End of Summer Festival (Pt. 3)

    End of Summer Festival (Pt. 3)


    --- Maya ---


    Once she got away from the other M.A.D.s -with an invitation from Kim to visit their club sometime- she started making her way to her original destination, the area where Tommy¡¯s band should¡¯ve set up for the wait before their competition.


    While it took her a moment to find them amongst the various groups that had gathered together for the competition, she eventually found her brother sitting on an Amp and practicing on his guitar while one of his bandmates paced nervously nearby.


    ¡°Hey hermanita, wasn¡¯t expecting to see you for another couple of hours.¡± Tommy greeted her as she walked up. ¡°You need something?¡±


    ¡°I was just coming over to see if you needed any help with any of your equipment. I figured now is quite possibly the worst time for any of your gear to start breaking down.¡± She told him, letting her eyes run over the band¡¯s equipment as she listened for anything the whispers might have to say.


    ¡°Can¡¯t argue with that.¡± Tommy smiled, before shaking his head. ¡°But no, we don¡¯t really need any help over here. For the most part the equipment we use is going to be the same stuff everyone else is using on stage. What we¡¯ve got here is mostly just stuff so we can try and warm up a bit.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, given what I¡¯ve seen you¡¯re probably going to need it.¡± She chuckled, thinking of Kim¡¯s critters.


    ¡°Damn it even your sister thinks we¡¯re going to lose out there.¡± Tommy¡¯s bandmate Daryll -a large and emotional teen with dark skin- cried as he began to pace even more fretfully.


    ¡°Ignore him, he¡¯s being a drama queen.¡± Tommy shook his head, before turning back to Maya with a hurt look. ¡°But really hermana, you don¡¯t think I can win? Your lack of faith hurts me right here.¡± Her brother whimpered patting his chest.


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s not so much a lack of faith as it is knowing how tough this one is going to be.¡±


    ¡°Huh, really?¡± Tommy¡¯s joking tone shifted to something a touch more serious as she triggered his Williams brand competitive nature. ¡°Anything you care to share, hermanita? Inside information is always appreciated.¡±


    ¡°Sure, it is.¡± She laughed wryly. ¡°I was over by the M.A.D. section and I saw one of them¡­ practicing for the competition. They did a whole swing song and number for the crowd, and it drew a fair number of people in.¡±


    ¡°Swing?¡± Tommy asked, with a bit of incredulity, before seriously considering it. ¡°That¡¯s a bit off the mainstream, but if it¡¯s done right it can pull a decent amount of popularity. You said the band was part of the M.A.D section right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they even encouraged people to attend the music tournament later to see more.¡± She nodded.


    ¡°Drawing in a crowd from a separate location to up their numbers, decent strategy.¡± Tommy admitted with an appreciative look.


    (Uh, I don¡¯t think Kim had that in mind¡­) She thought to herself, just now realizing how seriously her brother was taking this in his own way.


    ¡°Never mind that.¡± Tommy told her shaking his head. ¡°Since the person is an M.A.D. they¡¯ve got to have a gimmick¡±


    ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t think you¡¯d believe me¡­¡± She admitted a little warily as she tried to take a step back from her brother.


    Tommy¡¯s hand shot across the space between them as he stood, locking her in place as he looked her in the eye and quite bluntly said, ¡°Don¡¯t care. Give me the details so I can crush this bitch, now.¡±


    ---


    Having eventually managed to extract herself from Tommy¡¯s impromptu interrogation, she decided to take a walk around the festival and try to find something to do. And as she cut through a series of stalls hosting a number of classic carnival games, she noticed a familiar figure trying and failing at one of said games.


    ¡°Gah, this game is rigged!¡± Izzy yelled, stamping her foot in front of a stall with a little ball launcher.


    ¡°Uh, I thought everyone already knew that.¡± She couldn¡¯t help but comment, as she walked up behind her sister.


    ¡°I know they¡¯re supposed to be harder than normal, but you¡¯re supposed to still be able to beat them if you¡¯re good enough.¡± Izzy growled out as she turned a glare on the unperturbed stand attendant, who merely laughed.


    ¡°Ever consider you¡¯re just not good enough kid?¡±


    (Asshole.) She glared at the attendant, who just rolled his eyes at her.


    ¡°You two going to play again, or no?¡±


    She shook her head before looking over the stall¡¯s sportier prizes. ¡°What exactly are you trying to win here?¡±


    Izzy looked away from her and mumbled something.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The teddy bear¡­ the big one¡­¡± Izzy mumbled just barely loud enough to hear.


    She blinked, her eyes moving to the bear about Seamus¡¯s size before looking at the little sister whom refused to meet her eyes.


    (Huh, sometimes I forget she¡¯s still a middle schooler.)


    (Well, unless she¡¯s kicking our ass that is.)


    Ignoring the voice in her head, she put a couple of ones on the table. ¡°Alright I¡¯ll give it a shot too I guess.¡±


    ¡°I just said it¡¯s rigged.¡± Izzy scowled.


    ¡°I know.¡± She nodded as patronizingly as possible, before turning to the attendant. ¡°Still, how¡¯s this stupid thing work?¡±


    ¡°If you want the bear, you need to shoot down the target in the back.¡± The attendant recited the rules in a droning tone.


    ¡°And I did!¡± Izzy shouted.


    ¡°If you shot it down, it wouldn¡¯t be standing up.¡± The attendant told her sister, in a patronizing tone.


    (Hey, that¡¯s only funny when we do it!)


    ¡°Alright, well your money ¡®s on the counter.¡± She pointed out.


    The attendant gave her an unimpressed look before hitting a button, loading three foam balls into the stall¡¯s gun.


    Her first shot missed by a wide margin, the second by even more, and -through luck more than any semblance of skill- the third managed to hit the target.


    ¡°Oh, so close.¡± The attendant told her in as sarcastic a tone as possible.


    She felt her eye twitch as she stared at the (insolent) target that dared not to topple to her superior might and intellect.


    ¡°Izzy, why don¡¯t you give it another shot. I think I loosened it up for you.¡± She (ordered) her little sister, as she began plotting the inevitable destruction of her newest enemy.


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    (Oh, dear¡­)


    (Oh, yes!)


    ¡°We¡¯ve both hit it, and it didn¡¯t topple over.¡± Izzy reminded her, of why she needed to double down on her vengeance. ¡°Me hitting it again isn¡¯t going to do anything.¡±


    ¡°No, no, like you said we both hit it, so I think it¡¯s about ready to topple.¡± She argued, pulling her backpack off as she put a few more bills on the counter. ¡°I¡¯ll even pay for this round.¡±


    Izzy gave her a look, before shaking her head. ¡°Your money I guess¡­¡±


    The moment Izzy wasn¡¯t looking she pulled out her COMP and quickly began screwing around with several bits of limiter code on one of her more used functions. ¡°Remember to take your time and aim.¡± She told her little sister as her fingers flew far faster than normal as the whispers gave her exactly what she was looking for.


    ¡°I know.¡± Izzy groaned in annoyance.


    While she wasn¡¯t able to completely finish the quick bit of code she was working on right off the bat, she was able to finish what she needed by the time of her sister¡¯s third and final shot.


    (Alright, so Sonic is technically a form of kinetic so let¡¯s tweak this, that, and apply from a specified point, then apply corrections for Izzy¡¯s aim -which is significantly better than mine, -no wait, vengeance more important than sibling superiority-- and done.)


    As Izzy lined up her final shot, she gained a look of concentration as she fired, an audible crack blasting through the air and forcing the target back with enough power to snap whatever hinge had been holding it in place.


    ¡°The fuck!¡± The attendant jumped.


    ¡°Hey, hey, hey! Language, my little sister is listening here.¡± She glared at the attendant. ¡°Just because you lose doesn¡¯t mean you should be cursing, that¡¯s a bad example for all of the kids at this festival.¡±


    ¡°I know for a fact that wasn¡¯t normal!¡± The attendant shouted drawing the attention of several of the nearby festival goers.


    ¡°And why wouldn¡¯t it be normal for someone to win at your stall?¡± She asked, daring the attendant to admit that he¡¯d been cheating in front of the crowd around them.


    (This may be a bit hypocritical of us¡­)


    (We¡¯re cheating on behalf of someone else, making it morally okay.) Her inner madness argued.


    The attendant matched her glare before grabbing the large teddy bear and practically throwing it at her as he spat. ¡°Congratulations.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She smiled, handing the prize to her excited little sister.


    ¡°It¡¯s so fluffy!¡± Izzy cheered, hugging the bear close.


    (Oversized teddy bear, five dollars¡­ The game to win it, twenty dollars¡­ Little sister¡¯s happiness, up to a hundred dollars¡­ Vengeance on someone who tried to cheat me, priceless.)


    ---


    Deciding it was better to split off from her much happier little sister, before said sister could put her Williams family intelligence to work and start asking questions about the oddities of that last shot, Maya began wandering through the festival grounds in search of something else to do before Tommy¡¯s competition.


    And as luck would have it she found Vi looking around at the various festival signs, before making her way in a specific direction.


    ¡°Hey Vi.¡± She called once she¡¯d burned through the distance between them.


    ¡°Oh, hey My.¡± Vi greeted back as Maya started walking next to her. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Not much, just got away from Izzy. She¡¯s working herself into a fit trying to beat all of the carnival games.¡± She tried explaining.


    ¡°Uh, she does know those are all rigged, right?¡± Vi asked with a touch of incredulity.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I told her, but nope.¡± She sighed with a shake of her head. ¡°That chica is just too stubborn sometimes.¡±


    Vi gave that comment a snort of amusement. ¡°Aren¡¯t we all?¡±


    She waved that response away. ¡°Not when we know we¡¯re getting cheated. In that case we just cheat harder.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a healthy response.¡± Vi drawled with a fair bit of sarcasm.


    ¡°As if you have any room to talk.¡± She scoffed.


    ¡°True enough.¡± Vi admitted unrepentantly.


    Shaking her head, Maya took a moment to look around, ¡°Uh, so where are you heading? We¡¯ve still got a like half an hour until Tommy¡¯s show, so¡­¡±


    ¡°I heard some of the town¡¯s Arcane got together to put on this whole magic show thing. Figured it could be interesting.¡± Vi explained. ¡°If nothing else, they might have some of those summons from other worlds or something cool like that.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She¡¯d seen said summons once or twice on the news when a heroic or villainous Arcane got into a big enough fight in public, though never in person. Which led her to a curious question, tangentially related to topic at hand. ¡°Hey, just wondering, but have you ever seen a Traveler in person?¡±


    Vi blinked. ¡°Uh, I don¡¯t think so. Our town doesn¡¯t really have much in the way of rift activity, so there aren¡¯t really any to see.¡± Her older sister gave her a curious look. ¡°Why do you ask?¡±


    ¡°No, I was just thinking about how all of those Arcane Summons are technically travelers even if temporary.¡± She tried explaining, before something occurred to her. ¡°At least if they really are dragging creatures from other dimensions into ours. If they¡¯re just projections that kind of invalidates the question.¡±


    (I wouldn¡¯t put it past those wannabe wizard motherfuckers.)


    ¡°Huh, I guess that is one way to look at it.¡± Vi admitted, before shaking her head. ¡°You know you really mess with the whole ¡®wonder of magic¡¯ thing, hermanita.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s an esoteric energy field that can be manipulated,¡± She scoffed with a roll of her eyes. ¡°Just because we call it ¡®magic¡¯, doesn¡¯t mean there¡¯s a mysterious mystical garbage to it. Th-the differences in ¡®magic¡¯ are all about user perception not anything real. In fact, I¡¯m sure M.A.D.s can do the same stuff with a bit of effort, and we know their stuff is all based in science, if advanced.¡± (Hell, my Reality Hacking is basically weak magic.)


    (And that¡¯s only because we¡¯re still getting the hang of it.) Her inner passion agreed.


    ¡°Right,¡± Vi gave her little rant a snort of amusement. ¡°almost forgot you were one of those.¡±


    She felt her eyes narrow. ¡°One of what?¡±


    ¡°Everything is science, there is no magic to the universe.¡± Vi told her in an awed tone of voice.


    ¡°Well, there isn¡¯t.¡± She did not pout.


    Vi gave her another snort as she shook her head. ¡°Whatever you say herma-¡±


    A scream through the air cut off Vi¡¯s statement, drawing both sister¡¯s attention to a woman staring at something in the sky.


    ¡°The hell?¡±


    Following the woman¡¯s gaze both of their eyes went wide as they caught sight of a large red tear in the sky.


    ¡°Oh, shit!¡± Vi cursed, grabbing her arm and dragging her away from the scene.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but ask as she was forced to move to keep pace with her practically fleeing sister. ¡°Isn¡¯t that just a rift?¡±


    They could be considered dangerous depending on what was on the other side, but as long as no one drew the attention whatever that maybe they were relatively harmless in the time it took sanctuary to seal them off. Something she actually wanted to see given the advanced science necessary to do so.


    ¡°If it was everyone wouldn¡¯t be freaking out.¡± Vi told her motioning to the fact other people were fleeing as well. ¡°No, that¡¯s a bleed.¡±


    ¡°A what?¡± She asked,


    ¡°A-¡± Vi took a breath, massaging her temples. ¡°A bleed is like a rift; except the world it¡¯s connected to is usually a hell dimension that wants to murder everyone.¡±


    ¡°W-well, how do you know that¡¯s a bleed?¡±


    A wet tearing sound ripped through the air above them, giving her the opportunity to see claws sticking out of a tear that was seemingly dripping blood just few paces away. And while she wasn¡¯t exactly sure why, she could feel the sheer amount of hate pouring out of this thing, as if whatever was trying to tear it¡¯s way through reality wanted nothing more than to kill her where she stood.


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°Two? Why are there two?!¡± Vi panicked. ¡°That only happens in hell holes like Baskerville!¡±


    ¡°Um, Vi?¡± She called, noting something very unpleasant.


    ¡°What?!¡± Her sister snapped, dragging her away from the new bleed.


    ¡°There¡¯s more than two¡­¡± She whimpered, as her sister finally noticed the dozen or so bleeds opening in the space above the festival.


    ¡°Shit, shit, shit!¡± Vi cursed pulling out her phone and dialing a number.


    As Vi tried to reach whoever she was, Maya took the time to observe the bleeds, listening to the whispers as they tried to tell her something about the phenomenon in front of her, only to lack a large amount of background knowledge tied to what they were saying.


    Suddenly one of the bleeds nearby lurched as it began wriggle and thrash in the air, the blood pouring from it doubling in quantity as whatever creature was on the other side began to claw it¡¯s way through sending a thin muscle covered arm through the bleed, as it forced its body through the tear in reality.


    She reached out to shake her sister¡¯s arm as she watched the monster be birthed into existence. ¡°Uh, Vi?¡±


    ¡°Damn it, all of Sanctuary¡¯s lines are busy. Hopefully that means someone is calling this mess in.¡± Vi told her glaring at her phone.


    ¡°That¡¯s all well and good, but I really think we should get moving!¡± She yelled, shoving her sister away from the monster as it hit the pavement with a harsh thud.


    ¡°Oh, shit!¡± Vi cursed once more as she finally noticed the monster in front of them, as well as the fact the other bleeds were all starting to birth their own as well. ¡°Run!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t need to tell me twice!¡±

 Resident Festival (4)

    Resident Festival (4)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°We need to get to the stage area,¡± Vi told her as she warily looked around to make sure none of the monsters were following them. Though given the screaming, and the few people she could see still fleeing, she was personally sure they¡¯d gone after other prey. ¡°Tommy ¡®s already there, so hopefully everyone else will be heading that way too.¡±


    She nodded in understanding, since Vi seemed to be keeping an eye on her so they wouldn¡¯t be separated.


    (Pfft, as we¡¯d ever leave her alone in this kind of situation.)


    (You can¡¯t blame her for worrying all things considered.) Her inner logic reminded.


    (Anyone touches our sister and we¡¯ll blast them into the pavement.) Her inner madness growled.


    (Right, and-) Her eyes went wide as something occurred to her. ¡°Vi, Izzy!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Vi asked, stopping between two stalls.


    ¡°Izzy ¡®s out here on her own!¡±


    ¡°Shit!¡± Vi cursed. ¡°Do you have any idea where she might be?¡±


    ¡°Last I saw her she was by all of the games, but that was a few minutes before I ran into you.¡±


    ¡°Damn it, that¡¯s back the way we came¡­¡± Vi seemed to look around as if measuring something in her head.


    (Izzy ¡®s in danger what could she possibly need to thing about!)


    ¡°Vi!¡± She scowled.


    ¡°Just give me a second to think!¡± Vi hissed, her stress apparent as her face scrunched up. ¡°Fuck! It¡¯s too far to the stage for you to go by yourself¡­ Gah, come on.¡±


    Vi motioned for her to start backing up the way they¡¯d came, only to grab her shoulder before she could step out from between the stands. ¡°Wait, listen. Something ¡®s there!¡±


    Freezing she finally noticed a shuffling sound coming from just to the left of the exit, one that was steadily drawing closer, until one of the creatures shambled in front of their path.


    From so close it almost looked human in shape, (if you removed the skin from an emaciated corpse anyway.) Despite this underwhelming appearance however, something inside of her told her this thing was dangerous in a way she couldn¡¯t quite comprehend, that this (monster) was (wrong) in a way she just couldn¡¯t figure out.


    (Does it honestly matter?) Her inner emotion asked, a faint tinge of underlying panic to its tone.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    (Well, that doesn¡¯t bode well¡­)


    The monster continued to stumble forward, its gaze, vacant and empty as if it was merely existing rather than anything else.


    (On the plus side this means they¡¯re lacking in intelligence or at the very least their perceptiveness is below human.) Her inner logic pointed out helpfully.


    (Doesn¡¯t change the fact that there¡¯s something wrong with them!)


    (Right¡­) She shook her head clear as she tried to push away the instinctive fear clawing at her mind. Once she could think straight, she gestured for Vi to back up until they¡¯d built up enough space between them and the creature that Maya was just this side of okay whispering.


    ¡°Alright, so given how close it got and the way it was moving¡­ these things aren¡¯t really all that¡­ aware?¡± She tried explaining, before shaking her head again, as the fear continued to claw at the back of her head. ¡°I think, as long as we keep quiet they won¡¯t actually notice us.¡±


    ¡°Maya, that¡¯s,¡± Vi bit down whatever she was going to say before sighing. ¡°Maya, we¡¯ve got zero experience with these things. A-and given how dangerous they are we can¡¯t risk making assumptions about them.¡±


    ¡°I know but¡­¡± She ran a hand down her face. ¡°Look we need to find Izzy, and just running around, yelling her name is going to attract these thing¡¯s attention one way or the other. If I¡¯m right, and we¡¯re lucky, we can just sneak past them without having them follow us around or tiring ourselves out before we can find Izzy.¡±


    Vi¡¯s face scrunched up, before she eventually nodded. ¡°Alright, fine. If worse comes to worst, we can just start running I guess¡­¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She nodded back.


    Fortunately, as luck would have it, they found that traveling quickly and quietly did in fact seem to draw less attention from the wandering husks than running around had. Of course, this could¡¯ve had something to do with the fact that there were still one or two people screaming as they fled from the monsters.


    (Survival horror 101, keep quiet and keep calm.) She thought, wishing there was something she could do to help them, while also knowing her sound and lightning would probably draw an entire horde to her location.


    (At the very least, these creatures aren¡¯t particularly fast, so they should be able to outrun them given the fair ground¡¯s layout.) Her inner logic tried to comfort her.


    ¡°Right, yeah¡­¡± She let out a shaky breath before looking around them. ¡°Okay, it looks like we¡¯re in the right area, but¡­ how are we going to find her? If she¡¯s smart she¡¯ll be hiding somewhere.¡± The fact she was her sister and therefor of course that smart went unsaid.


    Vi bit her lip as she looked around herself, her gaze lingering on the five or six monsters shambling nearby. ¡°How bad of an idea do you think it¡¯d be to try and call her cell?¡±


    ¡°Mm, depends on how loud her ringtone is¡­¡± She hedged, looking around. ¡°Though if we make a big enough distraction to gather them, that could let us look around without any worry.¡± (Or that¡¯s how it works in my games anyway¡­)


    (You know, now really isn¡¯t the time to be confusing reality and our games¡­)


    (What are you talking about, we¡¯re in a survival game right now.) Her inner madness argued with a hint of growing hysteria.


    ¡°But how¡¯re we going to do that?¡± Vi asked with a worried look. ¡°I mean, if we do that we might get swarmed, and even if we set something up there¡¯s no guarantee she¡¯s here in the first place. Which means we¡¯d be putting ourselves in danger, and possibly attracting them to wherever she is.¡±


    ¡°Well, then we¡¯ll have to search without calling her. It¡¯ll take us longer, but at the very least it won¡¯t put any of us at a bigger risk.¡±


    Vi didn¡¯t look entirely happy with that plan, but at the very least she wasn¡¯t arguing against it. ¡°I don¡¯t like suggesting it, but do you think this would be easier if we split up? I mean we can meet back up here when we¡¯re done.¡±


    She considered it for a moment, before disagreeing. ¡°No, we need to stick together until we get out of this mess.¡±

 Resident Festival (5)

    Resident Festival (5)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Alright, well¡­ if we¡¯re sticking together, we¡¯re going to have to be quiet with so many of these things wandering around.¡± Vi told her, looking the street over once more. ¡°It¡¯s going to be slow going but we¡¯re just going to have look around the entire place if we don¡¯t want to attract any attention.¡±


    ¡°I know¡­¡± She sighed, looking the street over herself. ¡°Any idea where you want to start with?¡±


    Vi gnawed on her lip as she glanced around a bit. ¡°W-well, if Izzy didn¡¯t just run away¡­ then, like you said, that means she has to be hiding somewhere¡­ the question is where?¡±


    ¡°Well, she could be hiding in one of the stands, behind the counter.¡± She offered, seeing as it was the most obvious choice.


    Vi considered it for a moment before shaking her head. ¡°No, if it were that easy then the people manning the stands would¡¯ve hidden there given the opportunity.¡±


    ¡°Unless they were too stupid to think of it.¡± She pointed out.


    ¡°Not the time.¡± Vi frowned disapprovingly. ¡°No, these things spawned outside, in the air, meaning the safest place to hide would be a structure of some kind.¡±


    She glanced around, wondering if there was anything like that. ¡°Maybe, that fun house, over there?¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± Vi hedged, ¡°Though if she is, she¡¯ll probably be hiding too deep to just hear or see us looking for her.¡±


    ¡°Meaning, if she is there, then we¡¯ll have to search the house for her¡­¡± She sighed.


    ¡°Right.¡± Vi nodded. ¡°If we¡¯re lucky, she might¡¯ve found somewhere closer to hide.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but give that a snort of amusement. ¡°Does this seem like our lucky day?¡±


    Vi¡¯s eyes drifted to a nearby monster shambling by. ¡°Point.¡±


    ¡°Which puts me in the lead.¡± She joked, taking a step forward.


    Vi¡¯s hand shot out and grabbed her shoulder with an iron grip. ¡°No. I¡¯m older, I¡¯ll go first. If we run into something, then you run to the stage area where we know everyone else is. Understand?¡±


    Maya scowled at Viviana, before pretending to relent as she shook her hand off. ¡°Understood.¡± (If we run into anything I blast it with my Hand Cannons, consequences be damned.)


    Viviana sighed. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous, we can¡¯t just rush ahead. I know you¡¯re worried about Izzy, but we have to be careful about this or we could do more harm than good.¡±


    She sighed herself before nodding. ¡°Yeah, I know¡­¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Vi nodded. ¡°Now let¡¯s get moving before this bites us.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± She nodded back, before following as her sister began moving down the line.


    While they did manage to keep a decent pace while avoiding the monster¡¯s and searching the various stalls, the slow going of the process when combined with the tense atmosphere, instilled a sense of growing anxiety as each empty stall meant another minute wasted while the rest of their family was in danger.


    (Damn it, this is taking too long¡­) She couldn¡¯t help but think as they continued their slow pace to the funhouse, neither of them willing to risk the chance of missing Izzy in their hurry to get to the structure. (If only¡­)


    She paused, as she remembered something important.


    Her eyes jumped to Vi as her sister peered around a corner, before her eyes scrambled for her COMP still hidden in her backpack.


    (Need to do this quick¡­)


    With fast hands she shifted through her COMP¡¯s programs before pulling up her Map () and using its synergy with her Sonar and Thermal scanners, to mark every human sized creature in range. This combined with her Map ()¡¯s ability to use sonar to build a rough layout of the nearby grounds meant she had decent idea of where all of the monsters were, and if only monsters were outside of the stalls, then (no one ¡®s left in this part of the festival.)


    Slipping her COMP into her pocket, so that it wouldn¡¯t be as much of a hassle to pull out if she needed it again, before turning back to her sister who was frowning at whatever she was looking at.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°I, I don¡¯t know.¡± Vi admitted, her worry clear. ¡°All of the things, they¡¯re starting to look around. Almost like something is riling them up.¡±


    (That¡¯s¡­ not good¡­)


    Frowning, she shook her head. ¡°If they¡¯re becoming more active, maybe we should go ahead and move to the funhouse. The longer we stay out here the more likely they are to find us.¡±


    Vi frowned now as her eyes drifted across the remaining places they still had to search as well as the creatures who were moving with just a little more purpose, before eventually letting her eyes fall on Maya.


    Finally, with a reluctant sigh, Vi gave her a nod in agreement. ¡°You¡¯re right. We can¡¯t risk it much longer, and we¡¯ve still got to get to cover ourselves.¡± She didn¡¯t sound happy to be saying it, and Maya was fairly certain she was the only reason her sister was quitting early. Something she was sure would upset her, if she didn¡¯t know Izzy wasn¡¯t here.


    With this decision made, both sisters picked up their pace, moving much faster as they avoided the monsters prowling about, without bothering to slow to search the various hiding holes they were passing by.


    It still took them a bit of time, but eventually the two managed to find themselves standing in front of the festival funhouse, it¡¯s lights and turned off and the cheery music it usually gave off silent as the dead.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Something that made her frown, as she finally realized something that had been buzzing at the back of her mind for a fair while now. ¡°It¡¯s too quiet¡­¡±


    ¡°Now, isn¡¯t the time for this kind of thing My.¡± Vi told her seriously, as she kept moving.


    ¡°No, I mean it¡¯s too quiet. Doesn¡¯t this place usually have music and lights and everything?¡± She explained, following her sister.


    ¡°Now that you mention it yeah.¡± Vi frowned, looking around the dim fun house as she pulled out her phone. ¡°Then again the festival speakers aren¡¯t playing anything either, meaning the district is probably having a power outage¡­ Which might explain why there hasn¡¯t been any emergency announcements.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not normal.¡± She couldn¡¯t help but point out, as she pulled out her own phone. ¡°I mean if it were just the festival having a power outage, that¡¯d be one thing, but aren¡¯t there supposed to be a bunch of security speakers all over each district in case of a villain attack, or something?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they attach them to the traffic lights I think.¡± Vi reminded her, thinking it over herself. ¡°Given how the festival grounds are their own area, it¡¯d make sense for them to have their own alert system. And I wouldn¡¯t put past the people in charge to skimp on the budget and just attach them to the district¡¯s smaller grid, than give it its own emergency grid.¡±


    ¡°Pinche pendejos.¡± She spat.


    ¡°S¨ª.¡± Vi agreed with a snort of amusement, before pausing as they entered a maze of mirrors. ¡°So, before we try to do this in the dark, you think we¡¯re far enough in for Izzy to hear us if we yell?¡±


    ¡°Maybe,¡± She considered, before shaking her head. ¡°Though -if they haven¡¯t changed it- this thing is two stories and a basement, so¡­¡±


    ¡°If she isn¡¯t on this floor, then she probably won¡¯t hear us.¡± Vi finished with a sigh, as she entered the maze.


    ¡°At the very least she¡¯s not in the basement.¡± She tried reassuring. ¡°They only really open that for the Halloween festival, so that area should be locked this time of year.¡±


    ¡°I know, me and Tommy tried sneaking down there with a couple of our friends a few years back.¡± Vi admitted, before frowning at a split in the maze. ¡°Left, or right?¡±


    ¡°Um, hold on a second¡­¡± She shone her light on the ceiling, tilting it a bit side to side as she measured a couple of things in her head. ¡°There¡¯s less space on the left, so unless their doing a twisty path this year, we should take a right.¡±


    ¡°How do you figure?¡± Vi asked, having been watching her curiously.


    ¡°Light bounces. So, if we aim it at the far ceiling, the side that¡¯s brighter is probably closer.¡± She explained, remembering some of the notes she¡¯d made after her fight with Decker when she¡¯d first started brainstorming how to manipulate light energy. (Which I really should get on soon.)


    Vi glanced at Maya¡¯s phone, before looking at the ceiling and the mirrors around them. ¡°Won¡¯t those throw that off?¡± She asked, despite turning right.


    ¡°Maybe,¡± She admitted, having only a basic outline of the subject. ¡°but I still figure it¡¯s better than nothing.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± Vi shrugged, as they continued through the last section of the maze, and into the next room, where the entire floor was covered in a massive ball pit leading to a series of netted off walls and platforms leading to the second floor.


    ¡°You know in horror games, there¡¯d be something hiding under these things.¡± She felt the need to point out as they climbed into the pit that came up to mid-thigh on the two teenagers.


    ¡°And now that¡¯s going to be running in my head.¡± Vi told her without any heat, despite the frown on her face.


    ¡°Well, like you said, all of the monsters are outside.¡± She reminded her sister as they trudged through the ball pit.


    ¡°And on top of pointing out the fear factor, you jinx us.¡± Vi snorted. ¡°Thanks, My.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡±


    Despite her insinuations and genre savviness, there weren¡¯t actually any monsters hiding in the ball pit, and as such the greatest challenge they had was climbing through the platforms intended for people just a bit smaller than them.


    ¡°Damn it, I thought this place was meant for all ages.¡± Vi complained having to shuffle awkwardly, so that her entire body was on the platform before she could start maneuvering for the next.


    ¡°It is. If it was kid¡¯s only, I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯d ¡®ve gotten stuck a lot sooner than this.¡± She pointed out, following her sister into a playset tube, just big enough for an adult to crouch through. ¡°I mean at most kid¡¯s places; we wouldn¡¯t even be able to fit in these things.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Vi admitted. ¡°Just not used to having to move like this.¡±


    ¡°What, saying you¡¯re out of shape?¡±


    ¡°Fuck you.¡±


    ¡°Not into incest.¡± She shot back.


    ¡°Puta.¡± Her sister cursed, as they finally climbed their way out of the playset of the room before and made their way into the second floor proper.


    Taking a moment to catch their ¨C(vi¡¯s)- breath after all of the awkward climbing, Maya took a moment to look around the current room with her phone light, revealing what seemed to be an upside down hallway branching into several rooms.


    ¡°Huh, thought they avoided this one because it¡¯s a pain to set up.¡± Vi commented, as her light joined Maya¡¯s. ¡°Think Izzy¡¯s hiding in one of these rooms?¡±


    ¡°As good a place as any.¡± She shrugged, opening a door to the side. ¡°Izzy, you here?¡± She called into the upside-down dining room.


    ¡°Izzy!¡± Vi matched her call, into the room across the way.


    ¡°Hermanita!¡± She tried, reaching for her COMP while Vi was distracted with her searching.


    As her hand wrapped around the COMP a familiar voice shouted, ¡°Vi, Maya!¡± before something tacked her and wrapped around her waist.


    ¡°Izzy!¡± She cried, wrapping her arms around the middle schooler and returning the hug full force.


    ¡°Izzy!¡± Vi called running up and wrapping them both in her arms. ¡°We were so worried about you! Are you okay? Are you hurt?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m, I-I¡¯m fine.¡± Izzy told them, tears in her eyes. ¡°I was so scared, when, when those things started falling out of the sky, I didn¡¯t know what to do, or what was going on, or anything¡­ A-and since they were falling out of the sky, I thought hiding here would be safer, because I thought other people would be in here, but they weren¡¯t and I was all alone, and¡­¡±


    ¡°Shh, shh, shh.¡± Vi whispered, pulling Izzy closer. ¡°It¡¯s okay, we¡¯re here now.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, everything will be alright now. We¡¯re here.¡± She repeated, rubbing circles on her little sister¡¯s back.


    They continued on like that, for several minutes until Izzy eventually managed to calm down enough that she wasn¡¯t clinging to them like a lifeline.


    ¡°So, uh, what now?¡± She asked, since finding Izzy and making sure she was safe, had been her only real goal since this mess began.


    ¡°Mm, hold on¡­¡± Vi pulled out her phone, and started texting. ¡°If nothing ¡®s going wrong, then hopefully Tommy ¡®ll get this text. I still don¡¯t want to risk calling him with everything going on outside.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± She nodded, just as Vi¡¯s phone started to ring.


    ¡°Tommy? Oh, thank goodness.¡± Vi answered with a sigh of relief. ¡°Are you okay?... Are mom and dad with you?... Yeah, yeah, no. Izzy and My, are with me¡­ We¡¯re holed up on the second floor of the funhouse¡­ Okay, yeah. I¡¯ll let them know¡­ Alright, you to hermano.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± She asked the moment, Vi hung up.


    ¡°Okay, mom, dad, and Seamus are with Tommy by the staging area. The cops are here, and they¡¯re clearing everything out bit by bit to help evacuate everyone.¡± Vi explained, the situation. ¡°He said, they¡¯d try talking to one of the officers on duty to come here and help us get out of danger. But given how we¡¯re somewhere safe for now, even if he does talk to someone, we might end up being marked as a low priority given how hectic things are right now.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± She frowned, understanding it, but not liking it. Especially given the way her younger sister was holding on tighter at the mention of having to wait for rescue.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Vi agreed, understanding her sentiment exactly.


    (I''ll just have to suck it up. I''m not risking Izzy or Vi just because I''m a bit bored.)

 Resident Festival (6)

    Resident Festival (6)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Alright, that was Tommy.¡± Vi told them, as she once more hung up her phone. ¡°It took them a while, but they managed to talk one of the cops into picking us up, now that everything is calming down.¡±


    (About time¡­) Her inner child groaned, having reappeared about fifteen minutes into their waiting.


    (We¡¯re the ones being rescued; we don¡¯t have the right to complain about delayed aid.) Her inner reason chided. (Especially since they were likely protecting the rest of our family.)


    ¡°Any idea how long it¡¯ll be?¡± Izzy asked, having calmed down a fair bit now that two of her siblings were with her.


    (We could¡¯ve protected them just as easily if we¡¯d gone out and fought those things ourselves.) Her inner passion argued impatiently.


    ¡°Probably another ten, fifteen minutes if we¡¯re lucky.¡±


    (Perhaps but we would¡¯ve been endangering our sisters in exchange.) Her inner logic pointed out with some distaste.


    ¡°Can you please be quiet!¡± She hissed at the voices in her head, as their fighting gave her entire skull a dull throbbing pain.


    Her sisters turned their attention to her. ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± She grimaced. ¡°I¡¯ve just got a migraine¡­ all tension and everything, you know?¡±


    Vi nodded in understanding. ¡°Yeah, I know. This all sort of ruined the day, huh?¡±


    ¡°Little bit.¡± She agreed, before letting her head fallback against the wall. ¡°At the very least it¡¯s almost over.¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but they usually set up a quarantine this kind of thing happens.¡± Vi reminded her.


    ¡°Um, how¡¯s that work?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but ask, seeing as she¡¯d never been caught in an incursion event before.


    ¡°It¡¯s not too bad, but they usually keep everyone at a single location for a few hours while they investigate everything. There¡¯re a few reasons for it, like making sure they¡¯ve dealt with all of the invaders or investigating if someone caused this mess on purpose. Stuff like that.¡± Vi explained.


    ¡°Someone could¡¯ve done this on purpose?¡± Izzy asked, in a mix of confusion and anger at the idea.


    Vi rubbed the back of her neck before sighing. ¡°You¡¯ve got to admit, an event this big in a town not known for it is kind of weird.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± She grimaced in agreement, before remembering something. ¡°Wait, doesn¡¯t the Gamer¡¯s Guild cause monsters like this all the time?¡±


    ¡°Um, yes?¡± Vi answered, though she didn¡¯t sound all too sure about it. ¡°But from the few videos I¡¯ve seen online, most of those disappear with them, and they usually have this whole cyber-pixel aesthetic. You know?¡±


    She thought about it, comparing the pixel storms of Decker¡¯s wolves, to the bloody tears of those monsters outside. ¡°Yeah, I think I do¡­¡±


    ¡°Still, there¡¯s not really a point in us trying to figure that stuff out, given where we are at the moment.¡± Vi pointed out with a wry chuckle, that forced Maya to wince.


    (Right, they aren¡¯t masks, and I¡¯m barely street level, while this mess is what a city-wide deal?) She thought to herself bitterly.


    ¡°Hey, there anybody here?¡± A woman¡¯s voice called out, snapping her out of her thoughts and drawing her attention towards the door back to the ball pit and playset.


    The three sisters looked between each other, before Vi stepped between her sisters and the corridor, motioning for Maya and Izzy to stay back as she called out a tense. ¡°Hello?¡±


    After a moment a brown-haired woman in a military jacket walked down the corridor, before looking the three of them over. ¡°There you are. You three the Williams girls?¡±


    ¡°I, yes.¡± Vi admitted, not budging from her spot as she gave the woman a cautious look. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Detective Whitaker.¡± The woman nodded back. ¡°Your family asked me to come and get you now that everything is starting to settle outside.¡±


    ¡°Right, right.¡± Vi nodded with a sigh of relief. ¡°My brother said you were on the way, but I figured you¡¯d take longer to get here.¡±


    ¡°Most of the Husks have been dealt with, so it wasn¡¯t too much trouble making my way here, from the staging area.¡± The detective explained calmly. ¡°That said, there are still a few Creeps wandering around. So, we should probably start making our way back, before anything happens.¡±


    ¡°Right. So, uh, are we going back the way we came, or just finishing out the house?¡± Vi asked, as Maya and Izzy made their way over.


    ¡°It¡¯s the same distance either way given how they usually build this thing.¡± Whitaker informed them. ¡°So, let¡¯s just go the rest of the way through.¡±


    ¡°Right, I think they used most of the second floor for this upside-down house thing, so there shouldn¡¯t be too much more to it.¡± Vi told the officer, trying to be helpful as she led the way forward.


    (This whole thing probably has her stressed out¡­) She thought with a bit of worry.


    (And you¡¯re not?) Her inner reason asked pointedly. (This is a stressful situation.)


    She didn¡¯t want to admit to that, especially given how with her hand cannons she was a lot more confident about this situation than Vi was.


    (It¡¯s nothing to be ashamed of.)


    She shook her head, as they had to crouch into a long tunnel that led into a smaller room with a slide.


    ¡°What was the point of that?¡± Izzy asked, as they climbed out of the tunnel. ¡°A crouched walk, isn¡¯t all that interesting.¡±


    ¡°There are small wheels and motors connected to the tunnel, if the power wasn¡¯t out it¡¯d probably be spinning, giving an effect like you were switching back to normal.¡± The detective explained, motioning to a set of boxes on the wall around the tunnel. ¡°The odd climb up to the second floor was meant to do something similar.¡±


    Izzy blinked, thinking about it. ¡°Huh¡­¡±


    ¡°Either way, this tunnel should lead out to the exit hall, where another officer should be waiting in case anything happens.¡± The detective told them. ¡°You three slide down, and I¡¯ll follow you out.¡±


    ¡°Okay, um,¡± Vi looked between Maya and Izzy, before turning back to the detective. ¡°In that case I¡¯ll go first, and shout should there be anything wrong down there.¡±


    ¡°We cleared the area before I came in here, so there shouldn¡¯t be anything in the way of trouble down there.¡± Detective Whitaker assured them. ¡°Still, it¡¯d probably be safer if you wait inside the exit hall until all of us are down there.¡±


    ¡°Right, of course.¡± Vi nodded, before climbing into the slide and making her way down.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    After a moment, Vi¡¯s voice called ¡®I¡¯m out.¡¯ from the bottom of the tunnel.


    ¡°Okay, so uh, you next or me?¡± She asked Izzy, not wanting to leave her younger sister alone after all of the trouble of going to find her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡± Izzy told her climbing into the slide.


    ¡°Right, just¡­ just let me know when you get to the bottom!¡± She called as her sister slid away.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you three ¡®ll be fine from here on out.¡± Whitaker assured her during the ensuing silence.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s been a bad day, and everyone¡¯s stressed.¡± The detective explained. ¡°With the way you¡¯re holding yourself, you can see your nerves are starting to get to you.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± She started, before stopping with a sigh. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s been a bad day.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m through!¡± Izzy¡¯s voice yelled up the slide.


    ¡°Like I said, you three ¡®ll be fine from here on out. I¡¯ll make sure you get back to your family.¡± The detective promised her.


    ¡°Right, yeah¡­¡± She nodded once, not sure why, but feeling just a touch better as she got into the slide and made her way down to her sisters.


    ¡°You okay?¡± Vi asked with a bit of concern as she stumbled out of the slide.


    ¡°Yeah, just haven¡¯t been on one of those in a while.¡± She admitted, once she had her feet under her.


    ¡°Alright, you girls okay?¡± A strangely familiar female voice asked, drawing their attention to a tanned officer who unlike the detective was actually wearing a police uniform. ¡°I¡¯m officer Garcia, I¡¯m with Detective Whitaker. She sent you three out, right?¡±


    Before any of them could answer, said detective made her way out of the slide, not even needing a moment to reorient herself as she took notice of the other officer. ¡°Is something wrong, Garcia?¡±


    The other officer shook her head. ¡°No, just heard their shouting, and figured I should look into it given the¡­ eerie quiet of everything else.¡±


    Having her attention drawn back to that as the two officers led them out of the funhouse, forced her to acknowledge that, (Yeah, somehow that was less noticeable in the empty building¡­)  with a grimace.


    Whitaker nodded, seemingly unbothered by the silence as she stoically glanced around the area. ¡°Well, in that case we should get moving before things quit being quiet.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Officer Garcia agreed, before turning back to the sisters. ¡°Alright girls, you three stay close to us, and we¡¯ll have you back with your family soon enough, okay?¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah.¡± Vi nodded back, her nerves clearly flaring now that they were back in the unnerving atmosphere of the empty fair grounds. Something that was mirrored as Izzy latched onto her arm. ¡°Um, you said the monsters have already been dealt with, right?¡±


    ¡°For the most part.¡± Detective Whitaker admitted, beginning to move and forcing them to follow or be left behind. ¡°There still might be one or two stragglers out here, but it¡¯s nothing we can¡¯t handle.¡±


    ¡°A-and you¡¯re sure the two of you can handle these, these things?¡± Vi pressed.


    (This mess is hitting her a lot worse than I thought¡­) Maya couldn¡¯t help but notice as Vi began to walk just a bit closer to her and Izzy.


    Whitaker¡¯s eyes seemed to drift between Vi, Maya, and Izzy before she let out an amused huff as she continued forward. ¡°We¡¯re more than enough.¡±


    (Well, someone¡¯s confident.) Her inner passion noted.


    (Let¡¯s hope it¡¯s well deserved.) Her inner reason agreed.


    They continued on in silence for a fair while, the too quiet of the empty festival wearing at the nerves of all three of the sisters, even as Maya noted the distinct lack of monsters wandering between the various stands. Or at least the lack of living monsters, as one downed in their path testified.


    (Something¡¯s different about this one.) Her inner logic pointed out thoughtfully.


    And as Maya gave it a second look she found she couldn¡¯t disagree with the voice¡¯s comment, as unlike the numerous zombie like creatures she¡¯d had to sneak around over the course of the day. Largely because the one before them had much more meat to its bones, seeming closer to a muscular man than a skin and bones corpse.


    Though what really drew her attention to this particular monster wasn¡¯t it¡¯s musculature, but rather the way that it seemed to have bits of barbed wire wrapped around it, piercing and digging into its flesh at various points around its body.


    ¡°That can¡¯t be natural.¡± She found herself saying.


    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong.¡± Garcia agreed, eyeing the same creature. ¡°Though from the pictures I¡¯ve seen it¡¯s definitely from the same place as those other creatures.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Oh, uh,¡± Officer Garcia¡¯s face scrunched up a bit in thought. ¡°According to reports, sometimes if you kill a bunch of Malice Creeps too fast it¡¯ll just draw out a stronger one from the same place.¡±


    Detective Whitaker started walking towards the downed creature as she moved to investigate it. ¡°You girls mind taking a few steps back for a moment.¡±


    ¡°Uh, sure¡­¡± The female officer nodded, stepping in front of the girls. ¡°But, uh, what¡¯s wrong Min? Aren¡¯t we supposed to let Sanctuary handle clean-up?¡±


    ¡°We are, but this won¡¯t take more than a moment.¡± Detective Whitaker assured her, drawing a knife from a sheathe at her hip.


    ¡°W-why does she need that?¡± Vi asked, putting a protective arm in front of Maya and Izzy.


    ¡°Uh, I-¡±


    Whatever Garcia was going to say was cut off, as the downed monster leapt off the ground, lunging for officer Whitaker with its claws bared and a feral howl tearing through the air.


    In a maneuver Maya couldn¡¯t follow the Detective grabbed the monster and stepped out of its way, before slamming it into the ground face first as she stabbed her knife through the back of its skull.


    ¡°See not even a moment.¡± Whitaker nodded as she pulled her knife out of the monster.


    (Okay, maybe the confidence was earned¡­) Her inner madness admitted, as the monster began to (burn away(?)) into cinder and ash.


    ¡°Uh, Minerva, what the hell was that?¡± Garcia asked with no small amount of confusion.


    ¡°What?¡± Detective Whitaker blinked, before following Garcia¡¯s gaze to the dissolving remains of the dead creep. ¡°Oh, Creeps dissolve when you kill them, it¡¯s got something to do with the way Bleeds work compared to Rifts. Mm, something about how Malice disperses when exposed to open air? Honestly, I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t notice it happening to all of the Husks up to now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Garcia seemed to grimace, before shaking her head and mumbling something about, ¡®where John gets it from¡­¡¯


    Whitaker gave the officer a curious look before shrugging. ¡°Then if that¡¯s all we should get moving again.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ yeah¡­¡± Garcia nodded back with a sigh.


    As the group continued forward, Vi apparently found she couldn¡¯t quite keep quiet about what just happened. ¡°Um, I¡¯m not the only one who found that odd right?¡±


    ¡°Um, a little bit.¡± She admitted nervously, ¡°Though you¡¯re supposed to kill sleeping zombies before they get up in most horror games, so I guess that applies here?¡±


    ¡°My, that¡¯s not¡­¡± Vi began before visibly grimacing as she realized she couldn¡¯t actually argue that point.


    And while her elder sister found the exchange disturbing, they found their little sister to be of an opposite mind.


    ¡°That was so cool!¡± Izzy whispered with awe. ¡°The way she just flipped it and killed it before it even knew what was happening, I mean come on!¡±


    (Yeah, that was kind of cool.) Her inner child agreed.


    ¡°Alright, the staging area should just be around this bend.¡± Garcia called back to them as they took a turn and found a line of about a dozen police officers holding a makeshift line between the stage area and the rest of the fairgrounds.


    As they got closer to the line, Maya began to hear a distant siren growing closer. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Great, these idiots.¡± She heard Detective Whitaker growl, as a number of military looking vehicles began to drive up to the police line, before a number of soldiers in black and white uniforms unloaded out of the back of them.


    It took her but a moment to recognize the familiar crest of a sword surrounded by angel wings on the side of one of the vehicles, and on the armor of all of the soldiers.


    (Sanctuary¡­)


    ¡°Just ignore them for now.¡± Detective Whitaker told them with a shake of her head as she motioned the sisters past the police line. ¡°Let¡¯s just get you three back to your family before anything else happens.¡±


    As they stepped into the area around the stages, they found a number of anxious people gathered in little pockets, as they worried about everything going on. Barely audible murmurs heard here and there, as the incoming Sanctuary vehicles drew the attention of the people closer to the police line.


    Pushing past these people, Detective Whitaker glanced around the area looking for something in particular, before making a gesture towards the side of the main stage. ¡°Alright, from the looks of it your family is over that-a-way.¡±


    Maya followed the older woman¡¯s gaze and saw Tommy, Seamus, and her parents gathered in a worried circle.


    ¡°Mam¨¢!¡± Izzy shouted taking off in a sprint.


    ¡°Thank you for your help.¡± Vi nodded to the detective.


    ¡°It¡¯s no problem.¡± Whitaker assured her. ¡°Now if you don¡¯t mind, I need to go deal with¡­¡± The detective visibly swallowed whatever she was going to actually say and finished with, ¡°Sanctuary.¡±


    (Well, someone¡¯s unhappy with someone else.) Her inner logic piped up carefully.


    ¡°Right and thanks again!¡± Vi called as the detective made their way to where a number of police officers and Sanctuary soldiers were gathering.


    She was about to say something herself, when a pair of arms wrapped around her and started squeezing for all that they were worth. ¡°Oh, mija, I was so worried about you two!¡±


    ¡°We were worried about you too.¡± She told her mam¨¢ as she shifted around to try and return the hug, noticing out of the corner of her eye as her dad had Vi in a bear hug of his own.

 End of Summer Festival (Pt. 7)

    End of the Summer Festival (Pt. 7)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Are you guys alright?¡± She asked once everyone had calmed down a bit. ¡°I mean, you¡¯re in one piece, but¡­ this whole thing is¡­¡± She trailed off with a shrug.


    ¡°Heh, I know what you mean.¡± Her dad agreed with a wry chuckled, before letting out a tired sigh. ¡°And yeah it¡¯s like you said, we¡¯re in one piece and that¡¯s more than enough to be grateful for. Especially since if it wasn¡¯t for the local Arcane being so close to the kids¡¯ fair, I don¡¯t know what would¡¯ve happened.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk like that.¡± Her mam¨¢ scolded. ¡°We made it out, and none of us were hurt, let¡¯s just count our blessings on that much.¡±


    She nodded as her eyes glanced to the place where Tommy and her younger siblings were watching as an Arcane or something put on a show to keep the kids calm. ¡°How was Seamus holding up on the way here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m honestly surprised by how well he was keeping it together¡­¡± Her dad admitted, looking in the same direction as her. ¡°He was scared at first, but once a couple of Deviants started escorting everyone, he just sort of¡­ calmed down? I don¡¯t really know how, given all the confusion.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he thought they were heroes saving the day?¡± She offered with a wry grin.


    ¡°Given how they saved us, I¡¯m willing to call them that.¡± Her mam¨¢ agreed, before wrapping an arm around her shoulder. ¡°Almost as much as that detective who brought you girls back safe.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Maya nodded, losing herself to thought as a specific part of that statement hit her. (We should¡¯ve done more. We had the power to help people, but we didn¡¯t.)


    (That¡¯s not entirely true.) Her inner reason interjected. (We protected our sisters, and that¡¯s more than a sufficient use of our power.)


    (But we didn¡¯t actually use out power, ex because if we¡¯d actually cut loose from the get go we could¡¯ve wiped these monsters out hours ago.) Her inner guilt argued.


    (Perhaps, though if we¡¯d done that then Izzy would¡¯ve been left by herself through this whole.) Her inner logic pointed out. (And let¡¯s not forget Vi either, with how shaky she was this entire time she might¡¯ve broken down if we weren¡¯t with her.)


    She couldn¡¯t help but frown as she heard that. (That¡¯s not true, she¡¯d have made it to the staging area with or without us.)


    (Perhaps, but would she really give up the search for the sister she was separated from?)


    (No¡­) She admitted to herself. (She didn¡¯t quit looking for Izzy, and she wouldn¡¯t have quit looking for me either.)


    (At the very least we would¡¯ve been there if something did happen.)


    (I guess¡­) She sighed, before letting her eyes drift around in a passive search for her elder sibling, only to frown once more when she couldn¡¯t spot her.


    ¡°Hey, um, do you know where Vi disappeared to?¡± She asked, turning to her mam¨¢.


    ¡°Um, no, I don¡¯t, mija.¡± Her mother admitted gaining a concerned frown of her own as she began to look around herself. ¡°I mean, she was just here a moment ago¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe she needed a minute to get her head together?¡± Her dad pointed out. ¡°She did spend the last couple of hours taking care of you and Izzy, with everything else going on that couldn¡¯t have been easy.¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± She agreed, not liking the answer. ¡°Um, I¡¯m going to go look for her. Is that alright?¡±


    ¡°Of course, sweetie.¡± Her dad nodded, looking around the crowd. ¡°Honestly, even if she needs it, I don¡¯t like the idea of her being alone right now.¡±


    ---


    ¡°And of course, you¡¯re going to be taking credit for cleaning this mess up, even though you got here an hour fucking late.¡± Detective Whitaker spat.


    ¡°It¡¯s our job to deal with this kind of thing Whitaker, if it gets out that we didn¡¯t get here in time to deal with it ourselves, there¡¯d be a panic.¡± A Sanctuary officer argued calmly.


    She hadn¡¯t meant to start eavesdropping, but in her search for Vi, she¡¯d caught the beginning of a rant on Detective Whitaker¡¯s part. One that she felt a mild investment in, given both her status as a Deviant and how it was Sanctuary¡¯s job to deal with this kind of incident.


    (One they aren¡¯t doing.) Her inner passion pointed out bitterly.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s bullshit, and you know it!¡± Whitaker growled. ¡°The only panic would be in who your bosses will be throwing to the wolves. And we both know that¡¯d be some newly promoted shmuck rather than whoever¡¯s actually responsible.¡±


    ¡°Whitaker,¡± Sanctuary officer began in a tone Maya couldn¡¯t help but find condescending. ¡°what we both know is that you have an immense disdain for the entirety of Sanctuary, despite the fact that a number of our practices are the same as the police.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well at least we had people here to deal with this shit!¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Really?¡± The officer laughed. ¡°And how exactly would a number of armed guards make people feel safe at a family festival, intended to raise city morale?¡±


    ¡°A lot safer than when shit like this happens and everyone is left to fend for themselves!¡±


    ¡°It takes time to gather enough people to deal with an incident on this scale, without risking serious casualties.¡± The officer defended. ¡°Especially given the number of incidents we have across a city with a Deviant population this high.¡±


    Whitaker made a scoffing sound. ¡°A good third of the city¡¯s Deviant population was here, and it¡¯s your job to risk casualties so that we don¡¯t risk civilian casualties.¡±


    ¡°You know there weren¡¯t any true civilian casualties, and as bad as this mess may look, it wasn¡¯t too much for a handful of cops to take care of.¡± The Sanctuary officer argued, his voice losing some of its calm at Whitaker¡¯s constant pressing. ¡°We both know the only reason it looks this bad is because everything instinctively fears anything with a whiff of malice to it.¡±


    Whitaker made a scoffing sound. ¡°If that was the case we wouldn¡¯t have these market pricks pushing a drugged-out version of the shit on the streets. Something we know your lot are responsible for.¡±


    (Wait, what?)


    ¡°Sanctuary is not Asylum.¡± The officer hissed losing all composure. ¡°And I¡¯d thank you to not connect us to those genocidal monsters, because while we may¡¯ve dropped the ball today, the people working this branch are the only reason the Deviant situation in this city isn''t as bad as those days.¡±


    Whitaker was quiet for a moment before letting out a reluctant sigh. ¡°Right¡­ Some of you lot are trying to be better. Blaming you for your entire organization is unprofessional.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯ll take that as the best apology you¡¯re capable of.¡± The Sanctuary officer


    Deciding she¡¯d heard enough, she moved away from her hiding spot and continued her search for Vi, while processing what she¡¯d overheard.


    (Sanctuary created the drug those market guys are using?) She wondered, asking the voices their opinions,


    (The military tries to create superpowers; it makes sense in a clich¨¦ kind of way.) Her inner madness admitted.


    (True, but do remember, the officer blamed that on Asylum, and Whitaker was willing to take the comparison back.) Her inner logic pointed out.


    (Mm, weren¡¯t those the guys who were around before Sanctuary?) She thought to herself. (I remember they were shut down because of the Tall Man, but not much else¡­)


    (It was around a decade ago, so whatever happened was just a bit before our time.) Her inner reason reminded her.


    (I guess, but¡­) She shook her head with a sigh. (That¡¯s just another thing we¡¯re going to have to look into.)


    ---


    Having pushed her latest discoveries to the back of her mind, she continued on with her search for her wayward sibling. One that was quickly resolved as she found Vi sitting in the shadow of the main stage with her head between her knees.


    She frowned as she caught sight of her sister, wanting to help her but not really knowing how. ¡°Is¡­ is everything alright?¡±


    Vi jumped, having not expected her as Maya began to berate herself since (obviously she¡¯s not okay¡­)


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°No, no, My, it¡¯s, it¡¯s okay!¡± Vi scrambled to assure her, despite the fact that her own eyes were puffy and watery.


    ¡°You¡¯re crying¡­¡±


    Vi winced. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you¡­ do you want to talk about it?¡± She offered, not yet sitting just in case Vi wanted to be left alone.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Vi¡¯s face scrunched up before she let out a pained sigh. ¡°That¡¯s probably a good idea¡­¡±


    Nodding, she took a seat next to Vi, and just sat there, waiting for Vi to open up when she was ready.


    ¡°This whole day has been a mess.¡± Vi eventually told her.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Everyone¡¯s been saying that.¡± She agreed.


    ¡°I know.¡± Vi chuckled weakly, shaking her head. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ today was supposed to be a good day. No tests, no college drama with my friends, no boys bugging me for a date. Just me, my family, and some fun. You know.¡±


    ¡°Mm-hmm.¡± She nodded, not really knowing what to say.


    ¡°Then those bleeds opened, and everything went to shit.¡± Vi groaned, rubbing at her eyes.


    ¡°Well¡­ at least we made it through in one piece?¡± She tried, putting a comforting hand on her sister¡¯s back.


    ¡°Through dumb luck more than anything.¡± Vi spat, with a surprising amount of aggression. ¡°I mean I had no idea what I was doing out there! Hell, more than anything I was taking your lead on everything, and even letting you make plans in the middle of a, a pinche demon invasion!¡±


    She kept quiet, wishing one of the voices had anything resembling advice as the dam on her sister¡¯s emotions shattered.


    ¡°Everyone thinks I have all of my shit together, just because I¡¯m the first one in the family to go to college, but they don¡¯t¡­¡± Vi shook her head. ¡°But no, the moment I¡¯m really needed, I just bumble along, listening to the first person to offer an idea, and hoping I don¡¯t fuck it up!¡±


    ¡°Vi, you, you did the best you could, you couldn¡¯t ¡®ve-¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t, because that¡¯s all I do!¡± Vi cut her off with a cry ¡°I go through the motions, do what people tell me, and hope for the best! When push came to shove, you were the responsible one, and I was the one following you! I, I, I¡¯m fucking pathetic¡­¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± Her eyes shot wide. ¡°No! No, Vi, you¡¯re not pathetic, you¡¯re not!¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Vi laughed with tears in her eyes. ¡°The entire time we were out there you were practically calm and in control! You¡¯re the one who started us looking for Izzy. You¡¯re the one who realized those things were blind and dumb. And you¡¯re the one who decided how we were going to look for Izzy!¡±


    She opened her mouth to try and argue but no sound came out.


    ¡°See you can¡¯t even argue it anymore!¡± Vi smiled despite the fact she was crying. ¡°After all what does it say about me that my baby sister has it that together in a crisis, while I¡¯m one step from panicking and running?! I mean really?! I should be the one taking care of you, and yet look at us right now, I¡¯m having a mental breakdown, and you¡¯re the one comforting me when it should be the other way around! I mean, am I really this pathetic?!¡±


    ¡°Vi that¡¯s, that¡¯s¡­¡± She swallowed and shook her head. ¡°No¡­¡±


    ¡°Then what is it?!¡± Vi cried.


    "It''s..." She swallowed. "It''s because... I''m an M.A.D..."

 End of Summer Festival (End)

    End of Summer Festival (End)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s because I¡¯m an M.A.D¡­¡±


    Vi froze. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I, um,¡± She swallowed apprehensively. ¡°I said, I¡¯m an M.A.D¡­¡±


    ¡°W-what do you mean?¡± Vi frowned.


    ¡°I mean, my head¡­ it¡¯s not normal. And that¡¯s why I handled this so well.¡± She admitted. ¡°Not because I¡¯m more mature, or responsible, but because my brain isn¡¯t¡­ right.¡±


    ¡°My, that¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Then again we already knew that what with the bipolar, the ADHD, the autism spectrum, and that¡¯s all before we get into the weird combinative disorder that I think is a mix of DID and schizophrenia. Then again those same voices make me as smart as they do, so is it really schizophrenia or is it my power, I mean other M.A.D.s talk about ¡®hearing the whispers¡¯ but none of them talk about actually talking with the voices in their head or those voices talking back like mine do. And even then-¡±


    ¡°Maya!¡± Vi cut into her ramblings. ¡°Can you¡­ can you please slow down, I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m having a bit of trouble processing¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ sorry¡­¡± She apologized quietly.


    ¡°No, no, Maya, it¡¯s¡­¡± Vi sighed. ¡°You¡¯re saying you¡¯re an M.A.D., a mentally augmented deviant, right?¡±


    She nodded, not quite trusting her voice.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Vi ran a hand down her face before sighing again. ¡°How, how sure are you?¡±


    Rather than voicing an answer she pulled out her COMP and opened her MAP () before handing it to Vi.


    ¡°Um, what is this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a mini-map, it shows everyone within a certain distance of the user.¡± She explained, before clicking one of the dots and causing a small pop-up on screen. ¡°The brighter dots are people with a cell phone or something, if you click them it¡¯ll pull up a bunch of information on the person. The one or two red dots are the people who have a record with a violent crime.¡±


    Vi blinked, before messing with the COMP opening and closing a few tabs as she ran a few simple scans on people.


    ¡°Why didn- did you use this to help us find Izzy?¡± Vi asked with a frown.


    ¡°When we were by the funhouse and our search was starting to drag on.¡± She admitted. ¡°I got a little impatient and was starting to get antsy with all of the monsters nearby.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Vi was gnawing on her lip as she looked around a bit. ¡°How¡­ long have you known you were an M.A.D.? I mean, don¡¯t they test for that at the schools?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they um, do.¡± She nodded. ¡°But since they¡¯ve only had those tests for like a decade now, I guess I just slipped through the cracks. I mean I didn¡¯t even figure out I was an M.A.D. until a couple of months ago, when I started hearing the whispers.¡±


    ¡°Whispers?¡± Vi repeated with some concern, as she pawed at one of her still red eyes.


    ¡°Yeah, I um, looked it up when I first started ¡®sparking out¡¯, thought I was going crazy.¡± Maya explained, before running her tongue over her lips. ¡°Still might be¡­¡±


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Vi gave her a sad look. ¡°My¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey, no, I get it. It¡¯s part of the whole Deviant thing.¡± She cut Vi off before her sister could get started on that track of thought. ¡°I¡¯ve looked into it a bit, and pretty much all Deviants have one kind of mental disorder or another. And even if M.A.D.s have the most quantity, ours aren¡¯t the worst in their significance, or it¡¯s a lot of little issues instead of a few big ones.


    ¡°Maya, that¡¯s still not¡­¡± Vi bit her lip, deciding not to finish that thought, before giving another sigh. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m guessing you haven¡¯t told mom and dad?¡±


    She shook her head. ¡°No. I didn¡¯t¡­ I didn¡¯t want them to focus on all of that.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Vi pressed, shifting a bit closer.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡± She admitted with a sigh of her own. ¡°I just, I wanted to keep it to myself. At least until I could actually make something of myself.¡±


    Vi frowned at that. ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± She paused, considering the implications of saying she was going to be a hero, or how before that she was planning on working for a gang to try and bring some extra income into their house, before shaking her head.


    ¡°There are¡­ a lot of ways M.A.D.s, even teenage ones, can make a profit. In fact, there¡¯s this whole club of M.A.D.s who either make things to sell at little shops or just build stuff as a hobby.¡± She eventually answered, figuring that a club of small time M.A.D.s sounded a lot safer than admitting she wanted to be a hero.


    ¡°Maya, why would you¡­¡± Vi stopped, before starting again. ¡°Why do you think you have to do that?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the eldest and you¡¯re going to college, Tommy¡¯ got his band, Izzy has her martial arts, and Seamus is the youngest.¡± She listed, before giving a bitter chuckle. ¡°What do I have?¡±


    ¡°My, you¡¯re, you¡¯re smartest one of us,¡± Vi pointed out wrapping an arm around her. ¡°a-and I¡¯m sure you¡¯re going to go so far.¡±


    ¡°Because of my powers.¡±


    ¡°W-what?¡± Vi blinked.


    ¡°I¡¯m the smartest, because my power literally turns me into a super genius.¡± She explained. ¡°Meaning, again, the only thing that really makes me ¡®great¡¯ in our family is the fact that I¡¯m an M.A.D.¡±


    ¡°Maya, that¡¯s not true.¡± Vi argued. ¡°You¡¯re what makes you great.¡±


    She gave a snort of amusement at that. ¡°Sure I am.¡±


    ¡°Maya, you are-¡±


    A ringing cut off whatever Vi was going to say, causing her to scowl at her phone as she pulled it out.


    ¡°Go ahead and answer it.¡± Maya told he.


    ¡°But My-¡±


    ¡°No. It¡¯s fine.¡± She assured her, perhaps a bit forcefully. ¡°The whole point of this, is that the way you handled this was fine, and the way I handled it was weird, not you.¡±


    ¡°My, you know that¡¯s not-¡±


    With a frustrated sigh she checked her sister¡¯s phone and said. ¡°Answer it, it¡¯s mom.¡±


    Vi frowned, before giving a sigh of her own. ¡°Alright, if you¡¯re sure.¡±


    ¡°I am.¡±


    With thinned lips Vi shook her head and answered the phone.


    ¡°Hey, mam¨¢¡­¡± Vi gave her a look. ¡°Yeah, she¡¯s with me¡­ Okay¡­ Well, we¡¯ll meet you by the exit in a few minutes¡­ Alight, yo tambi¨¦n te amo.¡±


    ¡°They finally letting us leave?¡± She asked once Vi had hung up.


    ¡°Yeah, but My we¡¯re no-¡±


    ¡°Alright, then we better get moving.¡± She steamrolled, feeling too emotionally drained from the day to keep dealing with this right now.


    ¡°But Maya¡­¡± Viviana trailed off when she just continued on towards the rest of the family, before following as an awkward silence enveloped them for the rest of their short journey.


    ¡°There you girls are.¡± Her mam¨¢ sighed in relief, once she noticed them, before once more pulling both of them into a hug.


    ¡°Alright, now that everyone¡¯s here, we can get going.¡± Her dad told them, as they were ushered through the checkpoint the police and Sanctuary had set up. ¡°Just a little longer and we can put this whole mess behind us.¡±


    (Not all of it¡­) She couldn¡¯t help but think, as she noticed Viviana still giving her a concerned look out of the corner of her eye.


    (Why won¡¯t she just get that we¡¯re fine?!) Her inner passion shouted.


    (Several reasons I¡¯m sure.) Her inner logic admitted.


    (The why doesn¡¯t matter right now, since that¡¯s future Maya¡¯s problem.) She told the voices. (Right now I just want to go home and get some sleep.)

 Turn 35

    Turn 35


    --- Maya ---


    As she made her way down the stairs for the morning she found her dad scrolling through his phone with a worried expression on his face.


    ¡°Uh, is everything alright?¡± She wondered.


    Her dad jumped with wide eyes, before relaxing. ¡°Sorry, what was that sweetie?¡±


    ¡°I was asking if everything is alright?¡± She told him. ¡°You looked pretty worried about something.¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh, I guess I am a bit¡­¡± Her dad admitted a little sheepishly.


    ¡°Something you¡¯re willing to talk about it?¡± She pressed when he didn¡¯t follow up.


    Her dad grimaced, thinking about it for a moment before nodding. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not¡­ too big of a deal, but¡­¡± He waited for her to take a seat before continuing. ¡°It¡¯s just that whole festival thing yesterday has got me a bit stressed.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s got everyone stressed.¡± She pointed out, remembering how awkward and jumpy everyone had been on the drive home last night.


    (Well except Seamus. He seemed pretty normal all things considered.)


    (That¡¯s because he¡¯s awesome.)


    ¡°I know, but it¡¯s¡­¡± Her dad trailed off for a moment, before shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s different when you¡¯re a parent you know? The entire time you girls were missing we were pretty much panicking over whether you were safe or in danger, or what¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­ we were safe.¡± She told him, not sure how to explain her Hand Cannons without causing a situation even worse than the one she had with Vi right now.


    ¡°I know, but¡­ like I said, it¡¯s different for a parent. There¡¯s this whole thing about you¡¯e kids being in danger and you being powerless to do anything about it, and¡­¡± Her dad sighed. ¡°It just, it leaves you a mess¡­ you know?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± She stopped, taking a moment to remember the subtle fear she¡¯d had while looking for Izzy, knowing that there was danger around but until Izzy was right in front of her. A feeling that even after finding her was still echoed in the fact that she didn¡¯t know where the rest of her family was, or how they were doing.


    (Even when I found out they were okay there was still that bit of, ¡®what¡¯s happening to them now¡¯ kind of thing in the background¡­)


    ¡°I think I get it¡­¡± She eventually nodded.


    ¡°Hmm, sorry.¡± Her dad apologized running a hand down his face. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be putting this on you, not after everything else that happened yesterday.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine, I asked.¡± She assured him. ¡°And to be honest I¡¯d be a lot more stressed about it all if I didn¡¯t know why, you¡¯re stressed out.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a smart kid, I¡¯m sure you would¡¯ve put it together with everything that happened yesterday.¡± Her dad admitted with a wry grin.


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± (Though given how little I¡¯m actually thinking about it on my own, I¡¯m not so sure¡­)


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to dad.


    ---


    ¡°Um, you¡­ doing okay there?¡± She asked, as Izzy finished another set of blows to the punching bag their dad had set up in the backyard.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Izzy grumbled, going for yet another series of angry punches and kicks.


    ¡°You¡­ sure?¡± She flinched as the middle schooler delivered a vicious roundhouse to the bag.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure.¡± Izzy growled, giving her a glare.


    ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ you seem kind of¡­ angry¡­¡± She tried to explain as cautiously as she could.


    ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± Izzy practically shouted.


    She just stared at Izzy, making no effort to hide her concern.


    After a moment Izzy refused to meet her gaze. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    (She¡¯s too tense right now, I don¡¯t believe she¡¯ll open up to us in her current state.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    (Well, if she wants to beat something up¡­) Her inner madness prodded, earning a sigh.


    ¡°Well, uh, since I¡¯m out here you want to, uh, spar?¡± She asked, a mild reluctance hoping Izzy would treat her better than the sandbag she¡¯d been beating moments prior.


    Unfortunately, while her sister was kinder to her than an inanimate object, that didn¡¯t mean she was pulling her punches, so much as¡­ not trying to break her fist on Maya¡¯s face.


    (Dodge!) Her inner passion screamed, as she hopped away from a blow to her face.


    ¡°So, uh, you¡¯re taking this a little seriously here?¡± Maya laughed with just a touch of panic.


    ¡°You can¡¯t get stronger if you don¡¯t take it seriously.¡± Izzy argued, far more fiercely than a middle schooler should be capable of.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Y-you¡¯re in middle school,¡± Maya gasped, blocking a quick series of punches, ¡°why on earth do you need to be strong?¡±


    ¡°Because!¡± Izzy growled before delivering a particularly vicious roundhouse to her side.


    ¡°Gah!¡±


    (Well, at least we know what her issue is now.) Her inner logic admitted.


    ¡°Time out, time out!¡± She cried in her own head, as she raised a hand to try and get Izzy to back off while pressing a hand against her aching side. ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    Izzy narrowed her eyes for a moment, before letting her hands drop to her sides. ¡°That¡¯s it? You usually last longer than this.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well usually you¡¯re not trying to kill me!¡± She couldn¡¯t help but raise her voice, as she felt what was sure to be a bruise forming under her hand. ¡°Seriously, you put way too much force into that kick! What the hell?!¡±


    Izzy frowned, not quite meeting her eyes. ¡°I wasn¡¯t trying to kill you¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe not, but you¡¯re definitely pissed about something.¡± She growled, before flinching as she realized she¡¯d cussed at one of her younger siblings, something she typically tried to avoid despite inheriting her mother¡¯s tendency to curse out anything that riled her up.


    Shaking her head, she forced down the irritation caused by her bruising side and told Izzy, ¡°Something is eating you up right now. I don¡¯t what it is, and I get that you don¡¯t want to talk about it, but you really should before this,¡± she gestured to Izzy¡¯s temper, ¡°gets worse.¡±


    Despite having a thoughtful look on her face, Izzy was now blatantly avoiding her gaze, something that Maya couldn¡¯t help but sigh at. ¡°Just whenever you¡¯re ready to talk about it, let me know¡­ I¡¯m all ears whenever you¡¯re ready¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1XP to Fighting.


    --*Skill Level Up* Fighting: Lv. 6 (0/14)


    -Grown a bit closer to Izzy.


    ---


    (I feel I should be making a moral objection of some kind.) Her inner reason admitted with a bit of apprehension.


    ¡°Why?¡± She asked as her fingers continued to type out an absurdly long string of paired letters with minimal control on her end of things. (Huh, the whispers are really jumping at this one¡­)


    (Yeah, they are.) Her inner emotion agreed. (And it¡¯s probably got something to do with our murder bot feeding things to our bio-pod.)


    (Yes, that¡¯s part of it, but the rest is in the fact that we¡¯re creating an intelligent critter, while we have virtually no experience in any biological fields.) Her inner reason explained.


    ¡°To be fair, this is what? The second time we¡¯ve grown something?¡± She pointed out. ¡°If we never grow anything we¡¯ll never make anything cool.¡±


    (Perhaps,) Her inner logic conceded, before reiterating that (this still seems like a reckless endeavor, given our experience level, or rather our lack thereof.)


    (Bit late for the reckless thing, given -again- how our drone keeps killing things and feeding it to the bio-pod.) Her inner madness reminded them. (Might as well put that stuff to use somewhere.)


    ¡°Exactly, and besides all of that rat DNA gives us a pretty solid baseline to start off from.¡± She admitted, ¡°Especially since rodents are apparently pretty smart given their brain sizes.¡±


    (Still this just seems like the kind of thing that we need to be careful of¡­) Her inner reason confessed, refusing to let this go.


    ¡°Eh, we¡¯ll figure it out, I mean it¡¯s not that big of a deal.¡±


    (Yep, after all, all we¡¯re doing is playing god, and creating life that may or may not try to take over the world every night.)


    ¡°That reminds me, we really should make two of these things, so they don¡¯t get lonely.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Bio-pod (Small) has been set to grow a Small Critter for the next 3 turns.


    ---


    ¡°Where were you?!¡± Her mom shouted the moment she stepped inside the house.


    ¡°Uh, what?¡± She blinked, having been caught flatfooted.


    ¡°Where were you?!¡± He mother repeated sternly.


    ¡°I was¡­¡± She scrambled for a lie, ¡°out at this game thing? W-what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Did you tell anyone you were leaving?!¡± Her mother asked hotly.


    ¡°Was I supposed to?¡± Her parents had never really noticed her comings and goings so long as she was home for any meals, meaning she only ever had to ask when she was going to be out for the entire day. Certainly not for the few hours it took her to take and modify the rat DNA she¡¯d set her Bio-pod to spin together.


    ¡°Yes! Of course you are!¡± Her mother snapped, her eyes wide with shock for some reason.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± She wasn¡¯t entirely sure how she was supposed to respond to that. At least not without getting herself in trouble.


    (Not that we should be, given how they¡¯re the ones who don¡¯t notice we¡¯re gone.) Her darker emotions growled from the back of her mind.


    (That¡¯s not entirely fair, given how she noticed now.) Her inner reason argued.


    (Didn¡¯t notice when we were kidnapped.) The darker voice reminded, its voice bitter enough that she couldn¡¯t help but agree with it on some level.


    ¡°I had my cell phone with me.¡± She pointed out with a frown. ¡°So, if you guys needed something you could¡¯ve just called.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the point!¡± Her mother growled. ¡°The point is that after everything that happened yesterday, you shouldn¡¯t be running off without us knowing where you are!¡±


    Part of her wanted to call (bullshit) on that, but another ¨C(more logical)- part reminded her of the conversation she¡¯d had with her father that morning about how her parents were both  worried and stressed after having to spend so long not knowing if their children were okay or not.


    ¡°Alright.¡± She forced herself to as calmly as possible say. ¡°If one of my things pops up again, I¡¯ll let you know before I go and let you know what I¡¯m doing.¡±


    (Or lie to you about what we¡¯re doing.) Her darker self felt the need to tack on.


    (Yeah, but we¡¯re not telling her that part.) She reminded herself, feeling a bit of satisfaction in the fact that having a secret identity gave her a moral reason to lie about this.


    (It doesn¡¯t.) Her inner logic told her dryly.


    Her mother watched her for a moment before letting out a sigh and giving her a nod. ¡°Right, good. I¡¯m glad you understand.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just worried.¡± She told herself as much as her mother.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you understand, mija¡­ I honestly thought this would be more of a fight.¡± Her mother admitted, losing a lot of the fight she¡¯d worked up.


    (Oh, it can be a fight!) Her emotions lashed, having lost none of its.


    (It can be, but it won¡¯t be.) Her logic scolded, forcing her frustration back, because,


    ¡°Like I said, I get it.¡± (Even if I don¡¯t like it¡­)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1XP to Bluffing


    --Currently: Lv. 2 (4/6)


    -Grown a bit closer to mam¨¢.

 Turn 36

    Turn 36


    --- Maya ---


    Given how easy her talk with her dad had been compared to her¡­ confrontations, with Izzy and her mom, she¡¯d decided it¡¯d probably be better to try and talk to Tommy while he was calm, rather than waiting for him to be in a mood.


    Unfortunately, this did nothing to change the fact that her lack of social skills, meant she had no idea how to broach the topics of personal trauma and coping with anyone, let alone her elder brother.


    ¡°So¡­¡± She began awkwardly, as Tommy strummed a tune on his guitar.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Tommy asked, not pausing in his playing.


    ¡°How are you doing after¡­ everything?¡± She tried, not entirely sure how she should broach the topic of the Summer Festival and how it went to hell. (Possibly, literally.)


    Tommy rolled his neck, before sighing. ¡°A little stressed out, but nothing major. I mean the staging area was a lot safer than the rest of the festival. Honestly if it wasn¡¯t for all of the screaming and the sky turning red, I doubt I would¡¯ve realized what was going on.¡±


    (Huh¡­) That was¡­ significantly better than the rest of her family was doing. (Then again, Tommy always has been the mellow one in the family.)


    (That¡¯s what makes him so cool!)


    ¡°How about you?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± She blinked.


    ¡°I asked, how are you doing?¡± Tommy repeated, ¡°I mean, unlike me you were actually in the middle of it. Hell, you, Vi, and Izzy were in it longer than anyone else in the festival from the sounds of it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s, um, I¡¯m doing fine.¡± She told him.


    ¡°Really?¡± Tommy asked in that way that told her he didn¡¯t believe her but was waiting on her to talk about it.


    ¡°I¡­¡± She sighed. ¡°I know, it¡¯s weird but I¡¯m not messed up by whatever is going on. I don¡¯t know why, but my head is just¡­¡± She made a vague motion with her hands. ¡°I know I should be more bothered by it but I¡¯m not.¡±


    Part of her was reluctant to admit to that much, especially after the way it¡¯d blown up when she was talking with Vi. On the other hand, she was pretty sure as long as she didn¡¯t admit that she was an M.A.D. with all of the issues there in, her talk with Tommy wouldn¡¯t end as badly.


    Tommy watched her squirm for a moment before eventually shrugging. ¡°We all handle things differently. If this doesn¡¯t bother you than it doesn¡¯t bother you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± She asked with a bit of shock.


    ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± Tommy nodded, strumming a few more chords. ¡°Like I said, people process things differently. We made it out unscathed, and if that¡¯s enough for you then that¡¯s enough for you. Don¡¯t see a reason to complicate it, there¡¯s nothing wrong with it.¡± He met her eyes. ¡°Even if you think otherwise.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t¡­¡± She lied.


    Tommy gave a huff of amusement. ¡°You¡¯re stressing yourself out over nothing, hermanita. You shouldn¡¯t feel bad about not feeling bad, that¡¯s just a spiral that¡¯ll mess you up. Feel what you feel, and that¡¯s what you feel.¡±


    (Huh, that¡¯s what you feel¡­)


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya¡¯s calmed down a bit, fixing some of her mental health.


    -Grown a bit closer with Tommy.


    ---


    Convincing her mother to let her out of the house, had been something of a chore, though once she¡¯d explained that there was this ¡®hobbyist club¡¯ she wanted to visit to meet up with a friend, her mam¨¢ had changed her tune with a surprising speed.


    (It¡¯s like she doesn¡¯t expect us to have friends outside of our house!) Her inner passion whined.


    (To be fair, we only have what? One associate outside of the family, and we don¡¯t really see them outside of school.) Her inner reason reminded.


    (That¡¯s due to their circumstances not ours.)


    ¡°Look, all that matters is that we got out of the house.¡± She told the voices, once more forced to play mediator between them. ¡°Now, unless one of you wants to help me find this place, you can quiet down.¡±


    (You mean the building on the right, that you¡¯re about to pass.)


    She froze one foot still in the air, before checking the address Kim had given her and realizing that (yes, this is the place.)


    The building itself wasn¡¯t too much to look at from the outside, though given how it was technically downtown, the building was automatically in a better neighborhood than most of the places her family frequented in the southern districts of the city.


    Going inside, she found herself in a fairly clean and organized waiting area, more similar to a business than a clubhouse for M.A.D.s.


    ¡°Sorry, but we¡¯re unfortunately closed at the moment.¡± A voice told her, drawing her attention to a woman in a suit sitting at a nearby desk. ¡°If you wanted to buy a guest pass you¡¯ll have to come through another day when we¡¯re open.¡±


    ¡°Oh, um, no¡­ uh, I¡¯m supposed to be meeting a friend here?¡± She told the woman, before glancing around. ¡°Um, this is an M.A.D. club right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and tours are closed for the rest of the week.¡± The woman told her.


    ¡°Um¡­¡±


    ¡°Maya!¡± Kim called, stepping through a nearby door made of blacked out glass. ¡°Sorry, Carol, she¡¯s with me.¡±


    The secretary -Carol- sighed, before waving her to come closer. ¡°Very well. I¡¯m assuming she¡¯ll be a regular visitor then?¡±


    ¡°Uh, yes?¡± She guessed, not really understanding what was happening.


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°Alright, in that case I¡¯m going to need you to fill out this paperwork to make use of our facilities.¡± Carol informed her in a particularly dry tone, as she put a packet of paper on the desk.


    (Paperwork?!)


    (Why the fuck do we have to do paperwork?!)


    ¡°Sorry about this Maya.¡± Kim laughed anxiously, as she grabbed the paper and a pen before dragging Maya to a nearby table.


    ¡°And I¡¯d like to point out, that this won¡¯t go into effect until our facilities fully open.¡± Carol called, getting a wince out of Kim.


    ¡°Um, what is all of this about?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but ask as she felt a little overwhelmed.


    ¡°Er, sorry.¡± Kim apologized again. ¡°When I invited you, I hadn¡¯t been expecting the whole¡­¡±


    ¡°Demonic invasion?¡± She supplied.


    ¡°Yeah, that.¡± Kim sighed. ¡°So, unfortunately everything is sort of shut down since most of the club was at the festival.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense.¡± She grimaced.


    (Honestly, we probably should¡¯ve realized there was going to be some complications from that.) Her inner reason admitted.


    (But I wanted to play with the other Deviant¡¯s toys!) Her inner child whined.


    ¡°Um, but we can still fill out your registration forms so you can come and go as you please.¡± Kim told her in a (failing) attempt to recapture some of her excitement.


    ¡°Okay,¡± She sighed, understanding that this wasn¡¯t the other girl¡¯s fault, though there was one thing she was wondering. ¡°But, uh, what did she mean by tours?¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Kim blinked before smiling. ¡°We fund the club by running a sort of children¡¯s science museum every so often. It makes enough for us to offer everyone some basic supplies and pay the rent and utilities for the building. What¡¯s more we tend to cycle out the people volunteering for the tours to keep things interesting enough for repeat visitors.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± (That¡¯s one way to get tinkering funds.)


    (Better than waiting on allowance and scavenging trash cans anyway.)


    With that revelation her eyes drifted to a little check box on the form in front of her.


    []-Minion


    []-M.A.D.


    One choice just let her visit, the other let her visit and get some resources, if by outing herself as a Deviant to what was essentially a bunch of strangers.


    (Don¡¯t be paranoid, they¡¯re just trying to help other M.A.D.s.)


    (Besides do we really want to be someone¡¯s minion?)


    (If it means keeping our anonymity? Maybe.)


    ¡°Anyway, the club alternates days where it¡¯s open and where we¡¯re giving tours to people. Oh, and if you need a bit of money, you can volunteer to help with the tours though, since it¡¯s volunteer you¡¯ll get less than minimum. When we aren¡¯t touring we have all sorts of programs for everyone to help out with or learn science regardless of their Deviant status. If you¡¯re lucky some of the cooler toys are even for sell if you can haggle someone into it.¡± Kim continued explaining, while Maya debated her choice with herself. (Definitely, literally.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Every other turn Maya will be able to perform actions at the M.A.D. club meet. These actions include.


    --Club socials


    --Training M.A.D. skills up to Lv. 10 (Note: Club Mentor rank is random unless choosing a specific person to help.)


    --Assists with smaller projects.


    --Occasionally purchasable M.A.D. Items of D-Rank or lower. (For reference our highest-ranking gear right now is E-Rank. Also, availability of items will vary.)


    --After getting a little more familiar with the facilities, Maya can volunteer to help with the tours for a small bit of money.


    -Grown a bit closer to Kim.


    ---


    ¡°Maya!¡± A happy voice cried out before she even closed the door.


    ¡°Seamus!¡± She called out just as enthusiastically as she caught the toddler trying to tackle her, spinning him once in the air before putting him on her hip. ¡°And what are you up to today?¡±


    ¡°Muy bien, me and mam¨¢ were baking cookies!¡± Seamus told her, switching languages as he repeated the bits of Spanish their mam¨¢ tended to slip into her speech to get all of them to learn it.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good!¡± She nodded seriously. ¡°And were you a big help for mam¨¢?¡±


    ¡°Mm-hmm.¡± Seamus nodded just as seriously.


    ¡°Even better!¡± She praised, as they made their way into the living room.


    And now that she was with Seamus, she remembered something that her parents had told her a couple of days ago about how Seamus had been oddly calm despite all of the monsters running around.


    (Well, I¡¯ve talked to everyone else already, might as well make sure Seamus is doing alright too.) She told herself, before turning to Seamus who¡¯d taken to drawing on the living room table with his crayons again.


    ¡°Hey, Seamus,¡± She started, trying to figure out if there was a better way to ask a toddler, ¡°how are you doing after the festival a couple of days ago?¡±


    ¡°I had fun!¡± Seamus smiled with excited eyes. ¡°I got to ride the rides, and daddy got me cotton candy, and I played with the other kids, and I saw the magic men, and then we-¡±


    ¡°Uh, Seamus,¡± She cut into the toddler¡¯s rambling. ¡°that¡¯s good but weren¡¯t you scared of all the monsters. I know I was.¡±


    She started to think this was a bad idea when Seamus lost his cheer but found herself confused as he bounced back with even more. ¡°It was scary but the man in the mask was keeping us safe!¡±


    (He must be talking about one of the Deviants at the festival.) ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± She told him. ¡°Do you know who he was? His uh, mask name I mean.¡±


    Seamus thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. ¡°Uh, the man in the mask?¡±


    (I guess it was too much to hope for Seamus to remember the hero¡¯s name.) She sighed, before frowning. (Wonder if mom or dad ¡®ll know if I ask them, though they did say there were a few Deviants helping out. No telling, which one calmed Seamus down¡­)


    ¡°He said we were lucky there were so many mad people there so he could keep an eye on everyone.¡± Seamus told her. ¡°He said he couldn¡¯t do much, but that he¡¯d nudge the monsters away from us little ones!¡±


    ¡°He did, did he?¡± (He must not have been an actual mask then, but one of the M.A.D.s at the festival. If I see him at the M.A.D. club I¡¯ll have to remember to thank him for helping everyone.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya knows a little more about what happened at the festival.


    -Grown a bit closer with Seamus


    ---


    Given how she¡¯d already used what little free time outside of the house she could scrape past her mam¨¢ to go and visit Kim¡¯s club, she found herself stuck working from home for the day. Something that while not a large problem, did however limit what projects she could work on without arousing some suspicion.


    (Just like when we got started.) Her inner passion commented with a nostalgic tone.


    ¡°You mean like what, two weeks ago?¡± She asked, pulling out her laptop and bringing up her Drone Protocols ().


    (Hey, we¡¯ve done a lot since then!) Her inner madness argued. (Almost feels like it¡¯s been three months since we built the lab.)


    ¡°Sometimes¡­¡± She admitted, before shaking her head and focusing on her current project.


    Knowing that school was just around the corner, she was fully aware that her free time was about to take something of a hit. Meaning she wouldn¡¯t be able to waste as much time on the more menial tasks she had to accomplish to continue inventing.


    Luckily, she could use DM-1 and any future drones she made to do those tasks for her. She just needed to update their software with some actual stealth protocols to keep them from being discovered while working at whatever tasks she set them to do.


    (Yes, give Skynet infiltrator capabilities, that absolutely isn¡¯t going to inspire anything terminator-esque down the line.)


    ¡°I¡¯m not taking it that far.¡± She argued with a roll of her eyes. ¡°This is just going to make it easier for the drones to calculate a person¡¯s field of vision, and how much noise they¡¯re generating in comparison to the noise around them.¡±


    (Quite.) Her inner logic agreed. (Though, even if we aren¡¯t making human replicants, this program may still be decent entry point for future Infiltrator tech down the road.)


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± She admitted, wondering how hard it would be to convert some of these programs for her own UI.


    Scene Consequences


    -Software Progress: Drone Protocols, Stealth Upgrade (1/2)

 Turn 37

    Turn 37


    --- Maya ---


    Seeing as she only had two days left before school, she decided now was the time to get as much work done as possible in a single day.


    Since she was almost done with it -and the fact that it was the only one of her ideas she couldn¡¯t test from home- she began by finishing out her stealth upgrade for DM-1 and any future drone minions she may or may not decide to build.


    ¡°Alright, now¡­ how exactly are we going to test this?¡± She asked herself.


    (Well it¡¯s not that difficult to switch the stealth parameters from humans to squirrels.) Herself replied.


    (You sure? I mean killing the occasional rat is one thing, but do you really want to fuck with squirrels? We don¡¯t have a dimensional exit yet.)


    She rolled her eyes, as she adjusted a couple of variables in the program. ¡°Fine we¡¯ll just set his parameters to rats instead of squirrels, happy?¡±


    (Mildly.)


    Shaking her head, she uploaded the last of the update before turning back to DM-1 as it came back online. ¡°Alright, with that set¡­ go.¡±


    DM-1 gave her a little nod before hopping off of the table and running out of the room.


    (Uh, what¡¯s he doing?)


    ¡°Looking for rats to test the programming.¡± She answered before pulling up a program on her computer that connected her lab and DM-1¡¯s software.


    (How are we doing that by the way?)


    ¡°Jury-rigged a quick program to let us access his camera so long as he doesn¡¯t stray too far from the lab.¡± She explained pulling up said feed on her laptop.


    (Cool.)


    With that said they watched DM-1 stalk the halls of the hospital, quickly checking each room for any more rats before eventually finding one on the first floor of the hospital.


    ¡°Okay, looks like everything¡¯s running smoothly.¡± She nodded, seeing several sections of DM-1¡¯s camera becoming colored as it marked where the rat could see, as well as a little counter in the corner measuring the current volume of the little drone¡¯s movements.


    DM-1 stealthily got closer to the rat, carefully avoiding alerting the little creature as she suddenly realized what was about to happen.


    ¡°Oh shit.¡±


    The camera turned red as a faint snapping sound could be heard from the other end.


    (Hmm, so we made the murder bot better at murder. Yay.) Her inner passion cheered dryly. (Also I¡¯m not as happy anymore.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Upgrade Drone Minion Protocols to V1.1


    --Minions are now harder to detect, unless someone is actively looking for them.


    -Gained 1 Organic.


    -New Upgrades Available.


    ---


    ¡°Okay, so what can we work on that won¡¯t result in a form of self-traumatization?¡± She asked as she set up her laptop on her home desk, having fled the hospital before DM-1 could feed his latest kill to the bio-pod.


    (How about energy?) Her inner reason suggested. (We¡¯ve been neglecting that field of study for a couple of weeks now.)


    (Yeah, but if we¡¯re doing that let¡¯s do something other than what we¡¯ve been brainstorming.) Her inner madness told her. (You know something to clear the mental pallet after upgrading our murder-bot.)


    ¡°He is not a murder-bot.¡± She growled. ¡°He¡¯s just a bot¡­ who likes murder¡­¡±


    (Not much better dear.) Her inner logic admitted kindly.


    ¡°Just energy¡­ random project¡­¡± She sighed, letting her fingers fly across the keyboard as the whispers happily ran up to her with all sorts of ideas that she could just barely understand as the mix of stress and shock-induced adrenaline fed into her mad place.


    Given how much of her reality hacking work was based on the whispers running her body on auto-pilot, she ended up checking out of her own headspace for a couple of hours before eventually coming back to a near finished project.


    Shaking her head and running a hand down her face, she pushed the whispers back just enough to take an actual look at their work, before promptly freezing.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    (Is this what I think it is?)


    (If you mean a complete hacking of one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. Then yes, yes it is.) Her inner logic agreed with just as much awe.


    (Ha! Reality is our bitch!)


    She couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    ¡°Oh, we are going to have so much fun with this.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gravitational Energy Unlocked as its own program tree.


    --Increases the weight of any target based on the amount of power used.


    --Limits: up to 100 Kg can be */ 2.


    --Note: This energy cannot be used as a non-program ammo type with our current tech.


    ---


    While she had in fact managed to hack one of the most fundamental forces of the universe, if weakly-


    (Hey, that¡¯s still better than anyone else in existence!)


    (No one¡¯s doubting your genius sweetie.)


    -She still found herself unable to manipulate said force with her current resources, given how no matter how she worked it she could not think of a way to properly utilize gravity as an ammo type.


    (At least not without pulling some magic anime bullshit, that doesn¡¯t actually work the way people think it does.)


    She knew.


    She¡¯d done the math after watching a video of some Arcane using ¡®gravity magic¡¯ to try and see if that would let her crack the mental block to the tech, and she¡¯d realized that they weren¡¯t actually manipulating gravity. Instead they were taking the energy all Arcane could manipulate and either pushing up or down with it, rather than manipulating a localized gravitational field. Something anyone could do with a bit of wind or force. (Hell, I can probably do that the moment I crack kinetics.)


    In her disappointment she¡¯d written a scathing comment explaining why they were wrong and how they were a (filthy liar who tells liiiies!)


    Still, given the potential of this energy type, she forced the whispers to give her every bit of insight that they had on this topic, until she¡¯d taken the basic idea she¡¯d developed after helping Izzy with her carnival games, and produced something that worked.


    The fact that it could work on all of her collected energy-types was just an added bonus.


    ¡°Okay,¡± She blinked before popping another ibuprofen. ¡°If all of this works correctly, then we should be able to now apply gravity -or any energy really- to an object of our choice¡­¡±


    Pawing at her eyes, she took two notebooks from her school things, before applying the gravity effect to one of them and holding them up in the air.


    ¡°Now standard science states that two objects with the same amount of air resistance will always fall at the exact same speed.¡± She told the camera she was testing this with. ¡°But if this program works as intended¡­¡±


    She dropped both notebooks, both hitting the floor a moment later.


    (Well, that¡¯s anti-climactic.)


    She rolled her eyes before pulling up her recording, and watching the notebooks fall frame by frame, a view that clearly demonstrated one notebook falling twice as fast as the other.


    ¡°¡­then you get this.¡± She smiled, just a little too widely.


    Scene Consequences


    -New Program: Energy Burst () (Mem. 1)


    --Energy Burst allows Maya to unleash a small burst of any unlocked energy at a designated point in exchange for 1 point of Power.


    ---Electric: Shocks target, paralyzing them or overloading a machine.


    ---Heat: Sets a target on fire.


    ---Sound: Create a loud bang at a location drawing attention, while pushing objects away from the point.


    ---Gravitational: Increases or decreases an object¡¯s gravity, making it harder to move or easier to carry respectively. (Gravity limiters remain.)


    --Program Range is 1/10 of current Scan range. (2m.)


    -New Upgrades available


    ---


    Given how productive her day had been so far, she decided to keep going, to keep pushing her power and the whispers who were so eagerly giving her every answer that she asked for.


    Her fingers glided across the keyboard typing out an upgrade for her AI, after all (can¡¯t neglect my other minion!)


    She giggled at her own joke even as her temples throbbed, leading her to reach for her headache pills, only to miss and send it rolling off of her desk, eliciting another giggle.


    A knock drew her attention to the doorway where her sister was standing.


    ¡°Maya, mam¨¢ wanted me to¡­¡± Izzy trailed off staring at her. ¡°Are, are you okay?¡±


    She blinked, before tilting her head. ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Um, uh, you¡¯ve uh, you¡¯ve got something¡­¡± Izzy tapped her nose.


    Maya blinked once more before noticing a wet sensation on her lip and swiping at it.


    ¡°Huh, nosebleed.¡± She commented upon seeing the red on the back of her hand. ¡°Haven¡¯t had one of those in a while.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll, I¡¯ll go get mom.¡± Izzy told her, rushing out of the room.


    ¡°Okay.¡± She nodded, before pinching her nose and making her way to her bed.


    ¡°Mija?¡± Her mam¨¢ asked having popped out of nowhere. ¡°Izzy said you¡¯re having a nosebleed?¡±


    She quit pinching her nose and showed the palm of her hand.


    Her mam¨¢ grimaced before handing over a roll of paper towels. ¡°It¡¯s been a while but I¡¯m sure you remember. Nose pinched, head forward, count to a thousand.¡±


    ¡°S¨ª, mam¨¢.¡±


    Her mam¨¢ gave her a concerned look as she ran a hand through Maya¡¯s hair. ¡°You just take it easy for the rest of the night, and I¡¯ll bring up la cena, alright?¡±


    ¡°Alright, mam¨¢.¡± She nodded, feeling just a little lightheaded.


    Her mam¨¢ frowned, before kissing her temple. ¡°Regreso ahorita, mija. Te amo.¡±


    ¡°Yo tambi¨¦n te amo, mam¨¢.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Worked on AI Hacking Upgrade (Error/Error)


    ++*/\/\@|)/\/35$ Crit +1 Progress to project*


    --Error resolved: Current Progress (2/3)


    -Maya takes ??? damage for  going too deep into the mad place.


    You really should learn to pace yourself dearie. After all, all work and all play are no way to spend the day. It pays to be a little more¡­ spontaneous than that. Then again, maybe this is just your own special brand of madness shining through?

 Turn 38

    Turn 38


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°How¡¯re you feeling, mija?¡±


    She blinked away the last of her drowsiness, before fighting to sit up. ¡°Whash up?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just checking to make sure you¡¯re feeling better today.¡± Her mam¨¢ explained. ¡°Last night you were really looking out of it.¡±


    ¡°Oh, um¡­¡± She rubbed at her eyes, feeling a dull ache throughout her skull. ¡°I¡¯ve got a migraine from hell¡­¡± She admitted warily.


    ¡°Figured as much.¡± Her mam¨¢ frowned. ¡°You remember what happened right?¡±


    ¡°I had a nosebleed?¡± She asked more than said, because while she knew that was the answer she also felt it was a bigger deal than all the other nosebleeds she¡¯d gotten as a kid for some reason.


    ¡°A bad one.¡± Her mam¨¢ nodded. ¡°It lasted a lot longer than the ones you usually get, and we were honestly considering taking you to the hospital if they went on any longer.¡±


    ¡°I doubt it was that bad.¡±


    ¡°The towel I have to throw away begs to differ.¡± Her mother stated dryly.


    (Note to self, come up with a way of always getting blood out of clothes for future patrols.)


    The whispers gave her a few ideas, though their muttering did nothing to help her headache. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose we have any ibuprofen or something?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re staying in bed today.¡± Her mother decided firmly.


    ¡°What why?!¡± She whined.


    ¡°You lost a fair amount of blood yesterday, and you¡¯ve still got a headache today. You¡¯re getting some bedrest mija, whether you like it or not. Especially since you¡¯ve got the first day of school tomorrow.¡± Her mam¨¢ explained, with no room to argue.


    (Not that I can.) She thought bitterly before letting loose a long-winded sigh. ¡°Fine.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡± Her mam¨¢ nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll bring you up some desayuno, so sit tight and don¡¯t get out of bed.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± She groaned.


    ¡°And now I know you know.¡± Her mam¨¢ threw back cheekily as she left. ¡°Te amo, mija.¡±


    ¡°Yo tambi¨¦n te amo, mam¨¢.¡± She responded, feeling something warm in her chest despite the aching in her head.


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya¡¯s passive healing increased for this turn.


    -Grown a bit closer to mam¨¢.


    ---


    (You know, working when we¡¯re supposed to be on bed rest is not the most intelligent of our decisions.) Her inner reason warned her.


    ¡°Maybe but if I had to stay in bed with nothing to do all day I¡¯d go stir crazy.¡± She reminded herself.


    (Bit late on the crazy part.)


    ¡°Yeah, because I¡¯ve got you.¡±


    (Digressing, if you are bent on the unwise decision of working, what exactly are you working on?) Her inner reason asked before she could worsen her headache by arguing with herself.


    ¡°Well, given how violent DM-1 has been lately and the fact that we¡¯ve got a more organic minion cooking, I figured it¡¯d be a good idea to go through our minion protocols and try to figure out why he keeps attacking everything.¡± She explained as she shifted through said protocols on her laptop.


    (Reasonable.) Her own reason agreed.


    (Of course, she does.)


    (And have you discovered any idea why our little drone keeps acting the way he does?) Her inner logic queried as she ignored her lesser self.


    (Hey!)


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Yes, and no?¡± She admitted a little unsurely. ¡°I mean I¡¯ve found the section that should be responsible for any violent behavior, but it doesn¡¯t seem to actually say why he keeps attacking everything.¡±


    (Maybe it has to do with his learning protocols?) Her inner madness offered.


    ¡°His what?¡±


    (Oh, you didn¡¯t notice? If you scroll about half a page up you¡¯ll find this section on learned behavior that grants him a semblance of sentience and or sapience depending on how much he¡¯s developed.)


    She did as the voice in head compelled and read the madness written script.


    ¡°That sounds really bad, especially in my head.¡± She told her other-self as she found what her other-other self was talking about. ¡°Huh¡­ so apparently our drones are apparently fully capable of developing the intelligence of a four-year-old.¡±


    (That¡¯s disturbing for several reasons.)


    ¡°Yeah, I mean we could forcibly de-fang him from committing violence but¡­ we¡¯d essentially be forcibly chaining parts of his developing personality.¡± She agreed with a touch of unease.


    (That¡¯s not a good thing¡­)


    (No, it is not.)


    ¡°Well, what do we do?!¡± She growled in frustration. ¡°I mean we can¡¯t have him attacking out other minions around the lab, especially the squishy ones!¡±


    (Oh, those aren¡¯t at risk.)


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She asked, feeling another revelation coming from her inner madness.


    (Ooh, I like that.) Said madness laughed, before getting back on topic. (Anyway, yeah, if you shift through this and a few other sections here and in our growing minion¡¯s ¡®instincts¡¯ we rigged all of them to treat each other like family. Well, our idea of a family anyway, so there might be some sibling rivalry for our affection.)


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ I can¡¯t tell if that¡¯s better or worse given the situation.¡±


    (Mm, depends on your perspective.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Drone Protocols: Friend of Foe upgrade (1/2)


    ---


    Feeling her migraine beginning to act up, she closed her laptop and stood up in attempt to distract herself from the moral quandaries that came with creating life.


    ¡°Izzy?¡± She blinked, noticing her younger sister watching her from around the doorframe. ¡°Is everything alright?¡±


    The middle schooler frowned. ¡°I should be asking you that.¡±


    ¡°Mm, I¡¯m doing fine.¡± She assured her sister. ¡°Just got a migraine that¡¯s not going away.¡±


    That obviously didn¡¯t do anything to reassure her baby sister.


    (Hey I¡¯m trying here!)


    ¡°You pushed yourself too hard again.¡±


    ¡°I, what?¡± She blinked.


    ¡°You pushed yourself too hard, and now you¡¯re messed up again.¡± Izzy repeated as her frown deepened.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t,¡± She sighed. ¡°Izzy I didn¡¯t push myself too hard, I just had a really bad nosebleed. Remember how I used to get those all the time.¡±


    Izzy scoffed at that. ¡°Yeah, but you forget I share a room with you. And I saw how much typing you were doing on your computer.¡±


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°Lots of people spend time on their computer. Hell, some people spend all week on it, so I very much doubt one day on the computer gave me a nosebleed.¡±


    Izzy just stared at her for a moment. ¡°You know, I tried reading some of the stuff you were typing, and I know that math that complicated is not normal.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve taken up programming as a hobby.¡± She admitted in full honesty. ¡°It¡¯s a bit more complicated than regular math, even by high school standards, and especially by middle school standards, hermanita.¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but I saw how many headache pills you were popping.¡± Izzy argued. ¡°When you start needing medicine to deal with a headache it¡¯s time to back off, not dive in.¡±


    ¡°Oh, come on it wasn¡¯t that bad.¡±


    Izzy glared at her for another moment before walking over to Maya¡¯s desk, picking up a medicine bottle, and silently tossing it over.


    ¡°What¡¯s this fo¡­¡± She trailed off as she realized the bottle that had been nearly full yesterday was now nearly empty. ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, oh¡­¡± Izzy laughed mirthlessly, a sound that came off as (wrong) from someone so young. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s been going on with you for the last month, but this is like the third time I¡¯ve seen you like this!¡±


    ¡°Hermanita, I-¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Izzy cut her off with angry tears. ¡°I don¡¯t care! If you don¡¯t slow down, I¡¯m going to mom and dad, and Tommy and Vi, and, and someone is going to do something to make you slow down!¡±


    She didn¡¯t know what to say and so she just kept quiet instead.


    ¡°This is your last chance Maya, if you hurt yourself again, I¡¯m making sure everyone knows.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t anything she could say as Izzy stormed out of the room leaving her alone with herself.


    ¡°Shit.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya is little more concerned with her own health.


    -Grown a bit closer to Izzy.


    ---


    After her fight with Izzy, or rather Izzy¡¯s intervention with her behavior, she found she couldn¡¯t work up the will to do much more than lay in bed for the rest of the day.


    And when Izzy came back to the room to settle in for bed herself, her little sister didn¡¯t say a word to her as she faced the wall and pretended Maya wasn¡¯t there.


    (Woke up with a migraine, got grounded to the house, found out my drone might be sentient, and made my sister cry¡­ Fuck today.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya¡¯s passive healing increased for this turn.

 First Day of School (Pt. 1)

    First Day of School (Pt. 1)


    --- Maya ---


    Getting up for school in the morning was a pain, especially for a person who was distinctly (and proudly) not a morning person.


    Getting up in the morning for the first day of school was even worse, due to a summer of late nights and even later mornings.


    Getting up and ready for the first day of school in a household of five kids, two adults, and one dog was a flat-out nightmare.


    ¡°Damn it Vi! You don¡¯t even have classes until the afternoon, get out of the pinche shower!¡±


    ¡°I have to go in early for a group project so fuck off Tommy!¡±


    ¡°Come on Seamus, I know you''re sleepy, but you have to get dressed for school mijo.¡±


    ¡°No, wanna!¡±


    ¡°Missy, sorry girl, we don¡¯t have time to play today. Who hasn¡¯t eaten yet?!¡±


    The fact that Izzy didn¡¯t say a single word to her throughout all of this chaos did surprisingly little to help Maya¡¯s mood as their mam¨¢ rushed them out the front door.


    ¡°Okay, it¡¯s Seamus¡¯s first day of preschool so older kids have to get dropped off first today.¡± Her mam¨¢ reminded everyone as the ones she had to drive to school loaded up in the car.


    ¡°I know the drill.¡± Tommy nodded, the high school senior more than used to having the drop-off order shifted as his younger sisters changed grades and schools.


    ¡°Right, uh, is it me or Tommy first?¡± She asked, because despite both of them being high schoolers they wound up going to different schools due to their circumstances.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be going first since your school is farthest out, and I can circle through the rest.¡± Her mam¨¢ told her as they pulled out of the driveway.


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    ---


    Now, unlike most of the schools her family¡¯s tax bracket would end up in, she -thanks to a scholarship from her good grades- went to one of the better schools that while not quite on the northside was still close enough to have a fair number of rich kids attending. (Not that that¡¯s a plus.)


    What this translated to was her attendance at an academia that was in significantly better shape than any of the schools she¡¯d attended on the southside of the city, with clean freshly painted white walls, and not a single gang tag in sight.


    (There¡¯s also the tacky shrubbery.)


    (I was trying to ignore that.) Her inner reason admitted, as they passed some kind of gardening sculpture. (There such unnecessary opulence, a simple tree would be far more efficient and require less maintenance.)


    ¡°If you disregard the leaves in the fall.¡± She chimed in, since there was nothing better to do at the moment, than talk with the voices in her head.


    (Sometimes I worry for our mind.) Her inner logic admitted. (After all those leaves could effectively be turned into compost for the gardening club.)


    (Yeah, we¡¯re a bit scatterbrained.) Her inner madness agreed. (Though I doubt these rich snobs will get their hands dirty digging their own gardens. Or at most they¡¯ll just use store bought compost and soil.)


    ¡°Uh, I think only hipsters and try-hard gardeners make their own compost.¡± She noted, thinking of the fact that she¡¯d never actually seen someone take their gardening that far.


    (What about us? We recycle our organic material!)


    ¡°We feed it to a bio-pod that¡¯ll eat anything organic.¡± She pointed out dryly. ¡°If it actually took more than a couple afternoons¡¯ work to do something, we probably wouldn¡¯t do it at all.¡±


    (Point.)


    (¡­)


    ¡°¡­¡±


    (¡­)


    (Well, that killed like five minutes. How much longer do we have to wait before they unlock the front doors?)


    She checked her phone. ¡°Another half-hour.¡±


    (Ugh, it¡¯s not going to be like this every school day is it?) Her inner child groaned.


    ¡°No, just today since mam¨¢ has to walk Seamus into school and help him get settled.¡± She reminded herself.


    (Why do they always have to turn the first day of school into an event? I mean this is really biting us in the ass.)


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s Seamus¡¯s first day of school. That¡¯s a big milestone!¡± She chastised herself.


    (Not what I meant, but whatever.)


    (Quite¡­ Well, ignoring our inner petulance -as is healthy-)


    (Hey!)


    (- I feel the need to ask what we¡¯re doing for the rest of the day.)


    ¡°Not much.¡± She admitted. ¡°The only thing we really have to do is check in with Ying, since she disappeared all summer." (Like she does every year.) "Hopefully her mom won¡¯t be too overbearing about her hanging out this year.¡±

 First Day of School (Pt. 2)

    First Day of School (Pt. 2)


    --- Maya ---


    After a (boring) half-hour of waiting for the doors to open, and another for Ying to show up, Maya put away her notebook full of half-formed ideas and inventions for the future as a familiar black car pulled up before a man in a black suit got out and opened one of the back doors.


    (And there is the only rich person I actually like.) Her inner passion admitted, as one Ying Zhang stepped out of the backseat with a book bag in hand.


    The Asian teen took a glance around the school courtyard as her driver closed the door behind her and Maya took that as her que to run over to one of her few ¨C(and possibly only)- friends outside of her family.


    ¡°Ying!¡± She called stopping just short of crashing into the other girl.


    ¡°Maya.¡± Ying returned with an amused grin. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again.¡±


    ¡°You too!¡± She cheered with a wide smile before excitedly asking, ¡°How was your summer? Do anything interesting?¡±


    (Subtle we are not.)


    Ying seemed to freeze for a moment before shaking her head. ¡°My summer was¡­ exciting to say the very least.¡±


    ¡°So, say more!¡± Maya pressed happily. ¡°Such as where you go every summer.¡±


    ¡°Mm,¡± Ying seemed to think about it before smiling. ¡°I think not.¡±


    ¡°Ah, come on!¡± Maya purposefully pouted. ¡°We¡¯ve been best friends for two, three years now, and I still don¡¯t know where you disappear every summer.¡±


    ¡°And you won¡¯t any time soon.¡± Ying told her. ¡°That¡¯s something you can bet on.¡±


    (I¡­ I feel like she¡¯s making a pun.) Her inner madness admitted with some suspicion.


    (Ying? No, way. She¡¯s always been Ms. Serious.) She dismissed easily.


    (Perhaps, but she¡¯s been gone two months no telling what¡¯s happened since then.)


    Focusing back on Ying she realized the other girl was watching her before tilting her head with a barely audible, ¡°Interesting.¡±


    (Did her eyes just change color?)


    (It¡¯s likely just a trick of the light.) Her inner logic reasoned.


    ¡°Uh, what is?¡± She asked, only half listening to the voices in her head.


    ¡°Oh, just noticed something is all.¡± Ying answered in a roundabout way that answered absolutely nothing.


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    (Which is why I shall ask,) ¡°What did you notice?¡±


    ¡°Something interesting.¡± Ying dodged again.


    ¡°Ying.¡± She whined earning another smirk from her friend.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure you already know it.¡± Ying assured her. ¡°Besides if you really felt like talking about it you¡¯d let me know.¡±


    ¡°But how am I supposed to know what you want to talk about if you don¡¯t tell me?!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll figure out. You¡¯re a smart girl.¡± Ying told her with a pat to her head.


    (Wait.)


    She glanced up, and notice that Ying -who¡¯d always been the same height as her- was now several inches taller than her. ¡°When¡¯d you get so tall?!¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Ying blinked before tilting her head. ¡°I had a¡­ growth spurt of sorts over summer. It perfectly natural.¡±


    ¡°Not three inches in three months!¡± She argued.


    ¡°That would depend on your perspective wouldn¡¯t it?¡± Ying countered, tilting her head to the opposite side.


    Maya frowned before narrowing her eyes. ¡°You aren¡¯t taking growth hormones are you?¡±


    ¡°Pfft, no.¡± Ying laughed, before pausing to think about something. ¡°Though I have been eating fairly well this summer.¡±


    She felt her eyes narrow even more. ¡°Mmhmm.¡±


    Ying noticed her eyes before rolling her own and giving Maya an amused look. ¡°And how was your summer?¡±


    She frowned before considering all of her inventions, her fight with Decker, her run in with that Deadwoman in the hospital, and then everything that went wrong at the summer festival. ¡°My summer was¡­ exciting to say the least.¡±


    ¡°Really? Do tell.¡± Ying pushed with interest at having her own words thrown back at her.


    ¡°No. You didn¡¯t talk about your summer, so I won¡¯t talk about mine.¡± Maya told her with crossed arms.


    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s fair.¡± Ying conceded easily enough.


    ¡°What? No!¡± Maya pouted. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be all interested and tell me about your summer, so I¡¯ll tell you about mine!¡±


    ¡°Mm, I¡¯m good.¡± Ying shrugged nonchalantly. ¡°Summer¡¯s over so none of that really matters now.¡±


    That had Maya pausing. (Huh, Ying¡¯s usually not this playful about things.)


    (She also doesn¡¯t really¡­ let things go either.) Her inner passion reminded her. (Honestly, she seems really laidback compared to usual.)


    ¡°Hmm¡­ Hey, Ying?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Is everything alright with your mom?¡±


    The way Ying immediately tensed; Maya was sure she¡¯d stepped on a landmine as the hair on the back of her neck seemed to stand on end. At least until the other girl released a drawn-out sigh.


    ¡°Things are the same way they always are.¡± Ying admitted, though it sounded like she was forcing herself to do that much. ¡°She¡¯s still being¡­ as controlling as ever.¡±


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Maya apologized as the first bell rang.


    ¡°No. No, a friend¡­ a friend told me it was good for me to talk about this kind of thing and he wasn¡¯t exactly wrong.¡± Ying confessed as they started towards the school entrance.


    ¡°A friend?¡± Maya repeated, before processing something else and smiling. ¡°A ¡®he¡¯ kind of friend?¡±


    ¡°Again, no. Kill that thought with lightning and arrows.¡± Ying told her. ¡°I know how your mind works, so don¡¯t even try to go there.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s a mysterious friend who is a boy!¡± She pointed out. ¡°He sounds like a mysterious boyfr- ow!¡± She tore her hand away from the metal door handle. ¡°Shocked me.¡±


    Ying pushed the door open with ease. ¡°Must be telling you to stop while you¡¯re ahead.¡±


    ¡°Mm, you¡¯re no fun.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m plenty of fun.¡± Ying argued dryly. ¡°The problem is I won¡¯t have any at my own expense.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± She nodded just as dryly. ¡°So, what class do you have first?¡±


    ¡°English, you?¡±


    She pulled out her schedule and checked, before saying, ¡°I have math too.¡±

 First Day of School (Pt. 3)

    First Day of School (Pt. 3)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°I have math too.¡±


    ¡°So, another year of being second best.¡± Ying chuckled in self-depreciation.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re better than me in History and English.¡± She tried to console.


    Ying rolled her eyes with an amused grin. ¡°I was joking Maya. I know everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± (She used to be really touchy about that kind of thing.)


    (Something must have happened over her break to get her to change.) Her inner logic agreed.


    (Something she won¡¯t tell us about.)


    She shook those jealous thoughts from her head. ¡°Yeah, everyone¡¯s got their strengths and weaknesses.¡± She repeated with a touch less excitement than before.


    ¡°Quite. Though I¡¯d rather tardiness be neither of ours.¡± Ying prodded.


    ¡°Oh, crap, right.¡±


    ---


    (You know, I¡¯m just now realizing that we¡¯re not just ¡®good¡¯ at math.) She couldn¡¯t help but realize as she stared at the review test her teacher had given out to see where they all stood after a summer off from school. Or rather the review test she¡¯d finished in barely five minutes, with most of that time being taken up by her needing to flip through the pages and write down her answers.


    (Hm, I suppose this is a logical side effect of spending our summer writing reality hacking programs.) Her inner reason concluded.


    (Yeah, but I always figured it was the whispers doing all of the work!)


    (Maybe you¡¯re picking it up through osmosis?)


    (What do you mean?)


    (Well, you¡¯re listening to the whispers tell you what to do and if they explain a few bits and pieces while they do so, maybe you¡¯re picking those up. Sort of like when we picked up a lot of our Spanish from mam¨¢ talking rather than her giving us actual lessons.) Her inner madness explained with surprising insight. (Pfft, we both know insight will drive you mad.)


    (Bloodborne references aside, that idea does hold a certain merit.) Her inner logic acknowledged.


    (Yeah, but that doesn¡¯t explain how I was reading so fast or doing all of the math so quickly in my head.) She tried to argue.


    (Because we¡¯re a genius, and just naturally smarter than everybody?) Her inner child offered; her moment of intelligence having passed. (Hey!)


    (Mm, perhaps -in a vein similar to our previous discovery- our powers have similarly expanded our mental faculties to above the norm.) Her inner reason tried. (After all, our mind expanding to compensate for the whisper¡¯s flood of information, would explain away our ability to process information faster than most.)


    (I guess that fits¡­) She admitted, though reluctantly. (Though doesn¡¯t that bring up questions about how else the whispers are affecting my mind? I mean everyone¡¯s heard stories about the M.A.D.s who go off the deep end. Is that something we should be worried about?)


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    (Bit late to be worrying about that.) The voice in her head scoffed pointedly.


    (Okay, I get what you¡¯re doing there, but my point stands too. I mean is using my powers slowly going to drive me insane?)


    (There are a fair number of M.A.D. heroes who are perfectly sane, if mildly eccentric, and they¡¯ve been using their powers regularly for years.) Her inner logic tried to rationalize. (While our mental issues are likely a resultant of our powers, it is more than likely they won¡¯t actually grow any worse than they already are.)


    (Still¡­) She wasn¡¯t sure why this was bothering her now of all times or (no that¡¯s not right¡­)


    Her eyes drifted around the room to all of the other kids her age who were still scribbling away on the first couple of pages to the test that was supposed to take them all well near an hour to finish.


    (I¡¯ve just got a large enough sample size to realize it.)


    ---


    ¡°You alright?¡± Ying asked once their classes broke for lunch. ¡°You¡¯ve seemed a little out of it for our last few classes.¡±


    ¡°No, uh, I¡­¡± She blinked trying to come up with an excuse. ¡°I¡¯ve just got a couple things on my mind is all.¡±


    ¡°Anything I should know about?¡± Ying checked with some concern. ¡°I mean it¡¯s the first day of school, so it must be something else if it¡¯s bothering you this much.¡±


    She shook head. ¡°No, like I said it¡¯s nothing.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re sure.¡± Ying relented as they started towards the cafeteria. ¡°Though this does leave me wondering if you¡¯ll be able to stay focused throughout the school day.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the first day of school.¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s not like anything actually happens beyond reading syllabi and reviews.¡±


    ¡°True, though that¡¯s only from the scholastic standpoint.¡± Ying pointed out, before continuing at her confused stare. ¡°For instance, look around and what do you see?¡±


    She looked around the school yard, noting the handful of cliques gathering together now that they¡¯ve been given an hour to themselves.


    ¡°Uh, what am I supposed to be seeing?¡±


    Now Ying rolled her eyes, before pointing out several younger students in the crowd walking by themselves with their heads held surprisingly high. ¡°New year, new blood. What¡¯s more given the fact half of these students run in¡­¡± Ying seemed to work her jaw for a moment before saying, ¡°the same social circles, they either already have friends or are working to establish their place in the hierarchy.¡±


    She gave Ying a look. ¡°Okay, I know some of these kids are rich snobs and everything, but I very much doubt our school has that much of a hierarchy. I mean maybe there¡¯s a rich clique and a popular clique, but I don¡¯t see it being cutthroat elites and everything.¡±


    ¡°To an extent you¡¯re right.¡± Ying admitted. ¡°Though the fact that you typically ignore such things, and I have no desire for them, makes us as something of an outlier on that front. So, we may both be suffering from something of a bias given our upbringings.¡±


    (Meaning her mom is a rich bitch so she expects everyone to be.) Her inner passion clarified unnecessarily.


    ¡°If you say so.¡± She shrugged, not sure how much of all of this she believed. ¡°But since we¡¯ve got a few minutes before our next class, explain this whole hierarchy you¡¯re seeing.¡±


    Ying immediately pointed to a pair of girls in their year talking to a freshman. ¡°Over there the Smithson sisters -mid tier on the hierarchy- are talking to the younger brother of one of the school¡¯s athletes, who also happen to come from a fairly well-off family.¡±


    ¡°Okay, high school gold diggers, yuck.¡±


    Ying¡¯s finger moved to a boy in their year wearing just a little too much jewelry on his hands, who was talking to a group of kids both younger and older than him. ¡°Noah Delacroix seems to be the new head of the Arcane club.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s an Arcane club?!¡± She jumped.


    ¡°Suspected.¡± Ying admitted. ¡°But at the very least they have an interest in magic and would try it if able.¡±


    (Who wouldn¡¯t want to throw around magic?)


    (Us. We wouldn¡¯t. We¡¯d rather throw around science!)


    (You totally would¡¯ve joined if you knew they were a thing last year.)


    ¡°Though it should be noted that despite being a fan-club, they don¡¯t have anything on a true magic user.¡± Ying continued after a moment, seemingly amused by something.


    ¡°Well of course not.¡± (After all, only an idiot would publicly out themselves like that.) ¡°Still keep going, this is starting to get interesting.¡±


    ¡°Very well, let¡¯s see who else¡­ oh.¡± Ying frowned.


    ¡°What?¡± Maya asked, before noticing one Nyssa Salvador mocking a girl in their year who¡¯d had a deck of cards laid out across her lunch table. ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°Pardon. I have something to take care of.¡± Ying told her before standing and making her way over.


    ¡°Wait, what?!¡±

 First Day of School (Final)

    First Day of School (Final)


    --- Maya ---


    (Okay, this is starting to go too far! I¡¯m supposed to be the reckless one!) She complained, not even hesitating to back Ying up.


    ¡°Salvador.¡± Her usually more responsible friend called.


    The bullying brunette turned to face them before scoffing. ¡°Zhang.¡±


    ¡°Somehow I find myself surprised to find you harassing someone on the first day of school.¡± Ying practically growled, despite her voice taking on that haughty tone she used whenever she was stuck dealing with the other rich kids in the school.


    Nyssa rolled her eyes. ¡°Please Zhang, just because you saw¡­ potential in your little hood rat,¡± (Bitch did not!) ¡°doesn¡¯t mean all of them deserve their place in this school.¡±


    ¡°True not everyone deserves their place in this school.¡± Ying admitted with some (false) sympathy. ¡°After all Miss Sader earned her place by being a straight A student, where as your father bought your place here.¡±


    (Ooh, burn!) Her inner passion cheered.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Nyssa scoffed. ¡°Just because I¡¯m not an overachiever, who¡¯s only good quality is her grades, doesn¡¯t make me an idiot Zhang. I just take the time focus on more worthwhile pursuits.¡±


    ¡°Like your fashion blog?¡± Ying queried.


    (Ooh, Ying is on fire today!)


    (Yes, well as interesting as this is, shouldn¡¯t we be more focused on the victim of the situation?) Her inner logic pointed out.


    Maya¡¯s eyes drifted to the girl Nyssa had been bullying before nodding to herself. (We should.)


    Careful sidestepping Ying¡¯s verbal duel with (the rich bitch) and moved to help the girl ¨C(Sader)- who froze as Maya drew near.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m just trying to help.¡± She whispered to try and avoid drawing the attention Nyssa¡¯s hangers-on. ¡°Let¡¯s get your stuff together and go while they¡¯re distracted.¡±


    The girl glanced at Ying and Nyssa before turning back to Maya and nodding as she collected her cards. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no problem.¡± She assured the timid girl, as she helped gather the cards together. ¡°Alright, got everything?¡±


    Sader nodded again as she held the cards to her chest.


    ¡°Good, then let¡¯s get moving.¡± She told the other girl as she helped her to her feet.


    Once they were far enough away that Nyssa wouldn¡¯t be able to bother them without actively following them ¨C(something that¡¯ll hurt her more than us in this situation)- she waved to catch Ying¡¯s attention.


    Noticing her and Sader, as well as how close they were to the cafeteria exit, Ying gave her a subtle nod before turning her attention back to Nyssa for one last parting shot. ¡°I¡¯d consider continuing this duel of wits Miss Salvador, but it is becoming woefully apparent just how unarmed you truly are.¡±


    (Ye-es Ying!) Her inner passion cackled as she helped Sader through the exit. (Make it hurt, so good!)


    (I kindly ask that you do not talk like that any further.)


    (Yeah, that was kind of creepy¡­)


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Sader told her, drawing her attention away from her own madness.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°Oh, like I said, it¡¯s no problem.¡± She assured the other girl once more, before realizing she didn¡¯t actually know Sader¡¯s first name. ¡°Uh, I¡¯m Maya Williams, it¡¯s nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Aisha Sader¡­¡± Aisha returned with a timid smile. ¡°And uh, we have math together.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well.¡± She blinked awkwardly. (So that¡¯s how Ying knew her name.) ¡°Well, welcome to the school!¡±


    ¡°We had it together last year too¡­¡± The other girl trailed off with a grimace.


    (Abort, abort!)


    Her eyes darted to the cafeteria doors, where she was wondering (where the fuck is Ying?!) before darting to the cards in Aisha¡¯s arms. ¡°Uh, what card game were you playing?¡±


    ¡°Oh, um, Deviant¡¯s Masquerade¡­¡± The other girl told her. ¡°I¡¯ve um, I¡¯ve got this thing after school and I, uh, I wanted to have my cards together for it.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± Maya nodded, figuring the girl was probably embarrassed about playing a ¡®nerd game¡¯ due to Nyssa¡¯s bullying. (Luckily I am queen of the nerds.) ¡°Arcane or M.A.D.?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Aisha blinked.


    ¡°Well, I mean you could play Psychics -if you like being a cheating cheater- but you honestly seem a bit squeamish for Deadmen, and no one sane plays a Madness deck.¡± She continued as if the girl hadn¡¯t said anything.


    ¡°What about Wonderlander Decks?¡± The girl asked cautiously. ¡°They, um, they don¡¯t have as many draw backs¡­¡±


    ¡°Sure, their minions are viable, but their skill cards still use a ton of gambles and Psychics are better at card scouting.¡± Maya argued dismissively.


    ¡°Maybe, but madness cards are good at limiting enemy options or opening new ones, since they have so many draw and discard effects.¡± Aisha pointed out.


    ¡°Some of which cost you your own cards or give them to your opponent.¡± She reminded. ¡°Clearly if you want a minion deck M.A.D. is better.¡±


    ¡°If you want to waste all of your resources on your gear cards.¡± Aisha scoffed. ¡°What¡¯s more their skill cards are crap outside of a few cheap heals.¡±


    ¡°But our Op cards make up for that!¡± Maya argued. ¡°And clearly reusable resources are superior to a bunch of one-shot skill cards.¡±


    ¡°Which is why Wonderlander builds are the best Madness decks.¡± Aisha agreed with some satisfaction.


    She let out a snort of amusement. ¡°That wasn¡¯t the argument.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps not, though it was an entertaining one all the same.¡± Ying comment- (Wait, what?)


    ¡°Ying!¡± She jumped. ¡°When did you get here?!¡±


    ¡°Somewhere around the debate on the merits of Madness.¡± Ying admitted with an odd look between fondness and a grimace.


    (See even Ying agrees Madness decks are shit!)


    (You do remember that Ying doesn¡¯t play Deviant¡¯s Masquerade, in any of its forms?)


    (Oh, right her mother¡¯s a bitch.)


    (Quite.)


    ¡°It¡¯s was no trouble.¡± Ying said, Aisha apparently having given her an apology while Maya had been distracted by her own insanity.


    (Yeah, you¡¯ve got to work on that.)


    (Shut up.)


    ¡°Still, I had been hoping such drama would¡¯ve held off for the first week of school at the very least.¡± Ying continued with a sigh.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Aisha apologized.


    ¡°No.¡± Ying told her firmly. ¡°Salvador was the one who ruined my day not you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s not your fault Nyssa¡¯s a bitch.¡± Maya agreed with a nod. ¡°In fact, if she¡¯s gives you anymore trouble you just find me, or Ying and we¡¯ll run her off.¡±


    ¡°Nice of you to say,¡± Ying smiled in that way that said she was about to deliver some bad news, ¡°but unfortunately I believe she¡¯s the type of bully to only attack when her witnesses are the only ones present.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s why the teachers didn¡¯t stop her last year. She had a bunch of witnesses and I didn¡¯t.¡± Aisha confirmed sadly.


    ¡°Well¡­ you¡¯ve got two witnesses now.¡± Maya pointed out.


    ¡°True but despite getting better grades, the Salvador family and friends are a little higher up in oligarchy than us combined.¡± Ying explained with no small amount of bitterness.


    ¡°Then¡­ that just means we¡¯ll have to stick around and make sure she doesn¡¯t bother you.¡± Maya decided. (After all that¡¯s what a hero should do, isn¡¯t it?)


    Ying smirked. ¡°I suppose that is the easiest solution isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Aisha blinked, before rushing to tell them that, ¡°you two don¡¯t have to do that!¡±


    ¡°Mm, too late.¡± Ying told her. ¡°I¡¯ve found that my friends tend to be annoyingly stubborn when they set their minds to this kind of thing. I¡¯ve also found that¡¯s it significantly easier to just run with their madness.¡± Ying paused and smirked. ¡°Literally at times.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, what she said.¡± Maya nodded. ¡°I¡¯ve decided we¡¯re going to be friends, so we¡¯re going to be friends.¡±


    ¡°Um, don¡¯t I get a say in this?¡± Aisha asked.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry the Stockholm syndrome sets in surprisingly quickly.¡± Ying assured the other girl.

 Turn 39

    Turn 39


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°So, how¡¯s school going, mija?¡±


    ¡°Eh, same old same old I guess.¡± She shrugged, as her mother drove her and Seamus to school now that things were a little less hectic after the first day of school. ¡°We¡¯re still reviewing everything so nothing interesting to learn.¡±


    ¡°Well, what about Ying? Isn¡¯t she back from her summer?¡± Her father asked, having hitched a ride with them to work so that he could help take Seamus to school after what was apparently a rough first day given the toddler¡¯s unhappy face at having to go back.


    (I feel you little brother.) She thought with sympathy, needing to be dropped off after Seamus and before the other Williams kids were delivered due to the sheer distance between her school and everyone else¡¯s.


    (The price of getting a semi-decent education.)


    (Pfft, it¡¯s still an American education.)


    ¡°Uh, Maya?¡±


    She blinked. ¡°Oh, uh, yeah. Ying is back, and we¡¯ve got a few classes together. Though she says it¡¯ll probably be another week or two until she can hang out of school.¡±


    ¡°Her mother?¡± Her own mam¨¢ scowled.


    ¡°Yeah, her.¡±


    ¡°Shame.¡± Her dad sighed. ¡°But at the very least you¡¯ll be able to see each other at school.¡±


    ¡°I guess¡­¡± She shrugged.


    ¡°Well, uh, is there anything else going on? Anything new at all?¡± Her father continued trying to keep the conversation going.


    ¡°Mm, well I guess I made a new friend.¡± She admitted.


    ¡°Really?¡± Her mam¨¢ blinked in an equal mix of surprise and excitement. ¡°Who are they?¡±


    ¡°Um, this girl Aisha¡­¡± She answered, not knowing much about the girl besides the fact that, ¡°She was being bullied and Ying and I stepped into it. Oh, uh, she also likes this card game I play online sometimes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Her dad encouraged. ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re branching out and making new friends, sweetie.¡±


    ¡°Uh, yeah.¡± She nodded, not really sure how to respond to that, before turning her attention to the toddler sitting next to her. ¡°What about you Seamus, how was your first day of school?¡±


    Seamus gave her an (adorable) little pout. ¡°I no like it.¡±


    ¡°Why not mijo?¡± Their mam¨¢ asked, her (thankfully) limited attention being drawn to the toddler.


    ¡°Cause you left me all by myself.¡± Seamus answered with an accusing glare.


    ¡°But you said you were doing okay if mam¨¢ left.¡± Their mother reminded him. ¡°And two of your friends from the playgroup were in your class, so you weren¡¯t really alone.¡±


    ¡°But you weren¡¯t there, and you weren¡¯t there, and you weren¡¯t either.¡± Seamus told all of them, pointing at everyone one by one. ¡°And Izzy and Vi and Tommy weren¡¯t there either! I no like it!¡±


    ¡°Ay pobrecito.¡± She called, half sympathetic and half fighting back a laugh. ¡°We all had school to go to.¡±


    ¡°Mam¨¢ doesn¡¯t have to go to school!¡± Seamus argued.


    ¡°Yes, but I¡¯m a grown up. I already went to school when I was your age.¡± Their mother tried to explain.


    ¡°I went to school yesterday, so I don¡¯t have to go today.¡± Seamus decided, having heard that.


    (Should we tell him school is like a twelve-year thing?)


    (Fourteen, and that¡¯s before you add the possibility of college.) Her inner logic corrected, without offering an actual answer to the question.


    (Yeah, I¡¯m calling ¡®not it¡¯.)


    Deciding to be the bearer of bad news, her dad told Seamus that, ¡°That¡¯s not how that works son¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, it should.¡± Seamus pouted, crossing his arms.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it.¡± She tried to console the toddler.


    ¡°No, I won¡¯t.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    -Grown a bit closer to dad, mam¨¢, and Seamus.


    ---


    Is it morally okay to screw with DM-1¡¯s sentience? (No, no it is not.)


    Some people would argue that allowing an AI who was possibly, mildly, murderous to develop sentience and sapience to be too dangerous and that said AI should be put down for the good of humanity.


    The way she saw it, these people were also the same people who inevitably turned the peaceful non-human into a malevolently murderous monstrosity.


    As far as she was concerned crippling DM-1 was the ¡®safe¡¯ and ¡®peaceful¡¯ option but not the ¡®good¡¯ or ¡®right¡¯ option. It was the option that sacrificed one person to maybe save others from something that may happen in the distant future. The one that maintained the status quo by sacrificing the innocent rather than gambling a change for the better. (And what kind of hero would I be if I sacrificed the innocent for something they may do?)


    So instead of going into DM-1¡¯s programming and forcing him to behave the way she wanted him to, she instead took a page out of Kim¡¯s book. The other young M.A.D. had told her that she created her little critters and that meant she had a certain responsibility to them, to take care of them, teach them, and make sure they were happy, healthy, and upright people. (Like any good parent.)


    Which is why she currently stood in the middle of her lab with DM-1 sitting on a table watching her as she went through a very in-depth power point on the rights and wrongs of the world.


    ¡°Now you see this rat here invading the lab, and you have a method of capturing it without killing it,¡± She began, pointing at the left most picture of the slide where an angry DM-1 standing on top of a dead rat before pointing at the right most where a happy DM-1 was standing next to a caged rat. ¡°So, what is the right thing to do?¡±


    The little drone stared at the two diagrams, and for a moment, a moment longer than any of the other times she asked this question, and she felt her hope begin to swell before, DM-1 pointed to the picture of the dead rat.


    (Today is going to be a long day¡­) She sighed.


    (I can¡¯t help but wonder how many times mam¨¢ thought the same with us.)


    Scene Consequences


    -DM-1 will no longer gather organics while cleaning the lab.


    A/N: Alright, I¡¯m letting it be known that going forward I¡¯m going to give a soft to hard veto on any ¡®Evil¡¯ write-ins. That isn¡¯t to say I won¡¯t allow chaotic, neutral, or selfish write-ins, just not ones that are on par with our Hero protagonist brainwashing what -on three separate occasions- has been implied to be her child. (Yes, I know I put it on the menu, but ignoring it was meant to be a hidden quest of sorts.)


    ---


    She¡¯d barely taken two steps through the front door, before she was shoved three steps back and the door was slammed as Viviana followed her out.


    ¡°Alright, you¡¯ve been avoiding me all week chica, and I am sick of it.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been avoiding you.¡± She lied poorly.


    (She really did.) Her inner passion agreed.


    (Now is not the time!)


    ¡°Really?¡± Vi scoffed. ¡°So, the fact that you haven¡¯t said two words to me since the festival is just my imagination?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s just¡­ I¡¯ve been busy.¡± She argued.


    ¡°With what?¡± Vi¡¯s eyes narrowed.


    ¡°M.A.D. stuff.¡± She admitted, hoping the fact that since Vi didn¡¯t know what being an M.A.D. entailed she wouldn¡¯t be able to call her out on it.


    ¡°So, what, you¡¯ve been digging through the trash for parts?¡± Vi pressed not letting her go.


    ¡°No.¡± She frowned. ¡°And it¡¯s kind of fucked up you¡¯d assume that¡¯s how I get my parts!¡±


    (Yeah, we haven¡¯t done that all week!)


    ¡°Really, then how have you been getting them?¡± Vi asked suspiciously. ¡°Because everyone knows M.A.D.s have to build or work on something every few days, and if you really have been busy with ¡®M.A.D. stuff¡¯ then you need to be getting parts from somewhere.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m part of an M.A.D. club.¡± (Sure, I haven¡¯t actually attended a meeting, but I¡¯ve filled out the paperwork!)


    Vi blinked before her face took on a distinctly worried edge. ¡°What kind of club? W-what are they making you build?¡±


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°They aren¡¯t making me build anything. The club runs a children¡¯s science museum, you build stuff and if it seems cool they add it to the tour for the kids during the week.¡± Or that¡¯s how she thought it worked anyway. (Meh, the details aren¡¯t important.)


    ¡°So, if I were to look up this club it wouldn¡¯t be a gang?¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but sigh at that. ¡°No, Vi I am not in a gang. If you want I can probably show around it sometime.¡± She paused trying to think of a way to discourage her sister. ¡°Though you might have to buy a ticket if you want to do that.¡±


    Vi gave her a look, before running a hand down her face. ¡°Alright. Alright, I get it. You just¡­ you mentioned a club, and there are all these things online about Deviants being kidnapped¡± (Oh, those are completely true.) ¡°and I don¡¯t know¡­ I¡¯m just, I¡¯m just worried about you.¡±


    ¡°Yeah I get that.¡± She admitted, knowing she had no argument after her own kidnapping. ¡°But you don¡¯t have to worry about me, I¡¯m not taking any risks.¡± After all she couldn¡¯t afford them if she was going to become the city¡¯s greatest hero.


    ¡°I know but¡­¡± Vi sighed before shaking her head and giving Maya a weak smile. ¡°Any idea how much this ticket is going to cost me? I mean, I, I do want to see what you¡¯re spending so much time working on. If you don¡¯t mind¡­¡±


    She considered it for a moment before shrugging. ¡°I¡¯ll have to ask them if I can get you a family discount or whatever.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Vi nodded in understanding.


    A moment of silence passed between them, and thinking that their fight had ended on, maybe not a positive note but a decent one, she stepped around Vi and moved for the front door once more.


    ¡°My¡­¡± Vi stopped her as her fingers brushed the door handle.


    ¡°Hm?¡± She glanced over her shoulder.


    Vi was still facing away from her as she asked, ¡°You do know that at the very least¡­ you¡¯re a great sister, right?¡±


    She blinked not really getting the change in topic, before smiling. ¡°Of course, I am.¡±


    Vi turned to her with a sad smile of her own. ¡°You are you know.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -New Quest: Vi¡¯s Worries: Prove to Vi that you¡¯re safe being an M.A.D.


    -Grown a bit closer to Vi.

 Turn 40

    Turn 40


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Come on, tell me~e!¡±


    ¡°Mm,¡± Ying paused to think about it. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± She groaned as overdramatically as possible.


    ¡°Because your suffering amuses me.¡± Ying admitted with a smirk. ¡°Besides, how I choose to spend my summer doesn¡¯t really bear influence on you.¡±


    ¡°It does when it means I don¡¯t get to see you all summer.¡± She pouted.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Ying tapped her lips in thought, before grinning. ¡°How about a compromise?¡±


    ¡°What kind of compromise?¡± She asked, recognizing that grin as an ill omen.


    ¡°Oh, nothing too extreme.¡± Ying assured her. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a hint, and you have to guess what I spend my summers doing. Your prize is of course having your curiosity settled.¡±


    (I do not like the way she worded that.) Her survival instincts cautioned.


    ¡°And what¡¯s your prize if I can¡¯t?¡± She asked, agreeing with her inner logic.


    ¡°My amusement mostly, though if you want me to name something specific¡­ I¡¯m sure I can think of something.¡± Ying grinned with a few too many teeth.


    (Okay, seriously what the fuck is up with Ying?!) Her inner passion panicked. (She was not like this before summer!)


    (I don¡¯t know, I mean she always enjoyed teasing people before but¡­ it was always more of her dry sarcasm, and she was never this open about it either!)


    (Quite¡­)


    She blinked, before shaking her head. ¡°Um, uh, that hint?¡±


    Ying gave her a huff of amusement. ¡°My summer involved children, a hunter, a dark well, and a fair bit of madness.¡±


    (¡­)


    (¡­)


    (The fuck is all of that supposed to mean?)


    She glared at Ying. ¡°You know that¡¯s not a real hint!¡±


    ¡°Really, because from my perspective that covers about half of my summer.¡± Ying admitted, pretending to be shocked that Maya couldn¡¯t figure it out from that vague bit of information. ¡°Well, if you really need it, I suppose I can give you one more hint.¡±


    ¡°Fine, but this better be an actual hint this time.¡± She warned.


    Ying smiled. ¡°Shenlong.¡±


    She stared at her friend for a dry moment. ¡°Eres un pendejo.¡±


    ¡°Now that¡¯s just rude.¡±


    ¡°You know what Ying, Aisha¡¯s my new best friend.¡± Maya decided as she took the few steps necessary to sit next to their new friend.


    ¡°Well, given the size of our friend circle wouldn¡¯t that make her mine as well?¡± Ying asked, sitting on the other side of the confused girl.


    ¡°Um, what¡¯s going on?¡± Aisha asked, not quite following since she¡¯d been looking at her handheld game.


    ¡°You¡¯re my new best friend and Ying has to find her own.¡± She explained, pulling Aisha closer to herself.


    ¡°Maya personal space.¡± Ying reminded her.


    ¡°Oh, sorry.¡± She apologized, letting the flustered girl go. ¡°I sometimes forget about that kind of thing.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s uh, it¡¯s no problem.¡± Aisha assured her with a nervous laugh even as she seemed to shrink in on herself as an awkward silence fell over them.


    (Shit, I messed up already!) She knew she wasn¡¯t the best at dealing with people given her various issues, and preference towards avoiding people, but she¡¯d thought after getting along with Kim the couple of times they¡¯d hung out she¡¯d gotten over whatever caused her to screw up when dealing with other people.


    (Apparently, not.)


    Shaking her head, she glanced at the handheld Aisha had set down, before asking, ¡°So, uh, what were you playing?¡± in an attempt to break the silence.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s uh¡­ King of the Masquerade¡­¡± Aisha admitted, though she sounded embarrassed by that fact.


    Her eyes narrowed. ¡°What faction?¡±


    Aisha blinked. ¡°Wonderlander Warfare?¡±


    (Eww.)


    She tilted her head from one side and then to the other. ¡°I¡¯ll allow it, but only because of their resource generation.¡±


    Now Aisha¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with Wonderlander Warfare?¡±


    ¡°Aside from being the basic Wonderlander faction?¡± She asked, knowing that there were at least two Wonderlander factions who were more specialized than the base faction. ¡°All of your units are weak outside of a couple of Masks.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re one of those.¡± Aisha sneered. ¡°There is nothing wrong with playing a general faction over the specialized ones, and so what if Wonderlander minions are weak, they¡¯re cheap and I can respawn them.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but how much do those respawns cost you?¡±


    ¡°Not as much as I make without even pursuing objectives.¡±


    ¡°Because you can¡¯t pursue them with the competition!¡±


    ¡°Which is why you chip away at all of the objectives, that way you can sweep in and steal them when the other players have to pull back.¡±


    ¡°If you want to play like that why not just play Traitorous Travelers?¡±


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°Because that¡¯s a specialized sub-faction again!¡±


    ¡°Which automatically makes it better! Back me up Ying!¡±


    Ying blinked realizing everyone¡¯s attention was on her. ¡°I¡­ have never played this game before in my life.¡±


    Aisha visibly recoiled.


    ¡°I keep forgetting your mom¡¯s a bitch, never letting you play video games, or have fun, or¡­¡± She trailed off in her grumblings earning an amused look from Ying.


    ¡°Quite.¡±


    ¡°Well, um¡­ If you want, you can play a game on my handheld.¡± Aisha offered shyly.


    Ying blinked again before giving their new friend a soft smile. ¡°I would greatly appreciate that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a good idea.¡± She nodded, trying to encourage both Aisha and Ying. ¡°Just so long as you play a real faction.¡±


    ¡°The basic factions are better for learning the game.¡± Aisha argued.


    ¡°Hmm, Arcane Arcanum?¡± Ying read scrolling through the device. ¡°That sounds interesting.¡±


    ¡°Ha!¡±


    ¡°Traitor.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Inspiration: Certain upgrades have had their costs reduced.


    -Grown a bit closer to Ying.


    -Grown a bit closer to Aisha.


    ---


    Rather than make her way home, or to her lab, Maya instead responded to a text Kim had sent her about the M.A.D. club reopening for new members. Which is why she found herself waiting in the club¡¯s lobby, while trying to pretend the secretary Carol wasn¡¯t watching her like a hawk.


    (Hmm, you¡¯d think she¡¯d be a little less aggressive after handing us our club ID.) Her inner reason admitted as she fiddled with the card and lanyard she¡¯d been given.


    (Meh, she¡¯s probably just a bitch by default.) Her inner passion scoffed, as Kim finally entered the building.


    ¡°Hey, Maya, sorry it took me so long.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no problem.¡± She assured the other M.A.D. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m a bit nervous walking around a place where they know I¡¯m an M.A.D.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I can get that.¡± Kim nodded in sympathy. ¡°I honestly wasn¡¯t expecting you to put yourself down as an M.A.D. I mean, I had a feeling you were an M.A.D., but it usually takes new club members a few weeks before they¡¯re comfortable outing themselves.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ uh, I know what you mean.¡± She chuckled nervously.


    After a moment, when she realized Maya had nothing else to say, Kim gestured towards the doors to the back of the building. ¡°So, I guess I should give you a tour of the place?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be appreciated.¡± She admitted as she followed the other M.A.D.


    ¡°Okay, so the majority of the building is dedicated to the science museum that keeps this place running.¡± Kim began, pointing towards a number of walls that were moving on their own. ¡°A lot of the walls are rigged so that they can be moved and rearranged to fit whatever demonstration an M.A.D. is putting on. Though with the way things are it¡¯ll probably be a week or two before we start doing tours again.¡±


    ¡°That bad?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Yeah, the way things went at the festival set us back a good bit since a lot of our stuff was lost or stolen in the panic or confiscated by Sanctuary when they were doing their rounds.¡± Kim explained.


    ¡°Do they confiscate things a lot from here?¡±


    (It¡¯d be just like those fuckers to go taking everyone¡¯s toys.)


    ¡°They only take things when we¡¯re too close to an ¡®incident¡¯. And how much they take is usually proportional to how bad the incident is.¡± Kim admitted.


    ¡°That¡¯s not right.¡± She frowned. ¡°I mean it¡¯s not like you guys caused any of that mess.¡±


    ¡°I know, but the way it was explained to me is that there¡¯s this weird correlation between Deviants and Rifts.¡± Kim gnawed on her lip for a moment, apparently trying to remember just what she was told about the situation. ¡°There not sure if its Rifts attracted to Deviants or the other way around, but there have been people of all Deviancies who can open Rifts even if those people are few and far between.¡±


    ¡°So, it¡¯s considered a better safe than sorry kind of thing?¡± She finished, not liking the sound of that.


    ¡°Pretty much.¡± Kim shrugged, before turning her attention to a nearby set of doors. ¡°Oh, since you¡¯re an M.A.D. this is going to be important, this here is our material requisitions area.¡± The other M.A.D. told her while opening the door to reveal shelves filled with various bits and pieces of metal, plastics, and circuitry. ¡°This one is just for our more mechanically minded M.A.D.s while we¡¯ve got another one on the other side of the building for the more organic materials you might need. Though that¡¯s admittedly just a bunch of rooms with soil, water, and windows to get in some sunlight.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that all most Bio-M.A.D.s need?¡± She wondered, knowing she could do a fair bit with that much even if her bio-pods made the whole affair easier.


    ¡°Eh, some need actual animals, and that¡¯s a whole lot of paperwork you¡¯re going to have to fill out on your own.¡± Kim told her. ¡°I¡¯ve already got my hands full with everything I have to do for my ham-pets.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± She shrugged, not seeing any problem with that given how she could just keep any ¡®active¡¯ bio-minions at the hospital.


    ¡°Oh, that does remind me.¡± Kim stopped and grabbed a series of forms off of a table in the requisitions room. ¡°If you want we can probably reserve a room for you and your projects, but I¡¯m going to need to know what your specialty is to do that.¡±


    ¡°My specialty?¡± Maya repeated.


    ¡°Yeah, you have any idea what yours is? It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t.¡± Kim assured her.


    ¡°Um¡­¡±


    (I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to tell her about our reality hacking.) Her inner logic warned.


    (Yeah, we don¡¯t need to get our asses kidnapped again.)


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit of this and that.¡± She tried, before pulling her COMP out. ¡°I built this thing, and it¡¯s got a bunch of sensors and stuff I can use, but I¡¯ve also had a few ideas for a couple of plants and such.¡±


    ¡°Mm, well while most people specialize in machines or organics, sometimes M.A.D.s will have a theme instead¡­¡± Kim admitted in an unsure tone. ¡°Though those guys are usually a bit higher in the Rankings¡­¡±


    ¡°Is¡­ is that going to be a problem?¡± She asked, remembering how Kim had told her about the way the club didn¡¯t have any high-ranking members to try and avoid gang attention.


    Kim bit her lip. ¡°Yes and no? So long as you don¡¯t make anything too advanced they¡¯re shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    ¡°And how will I know if something is too advanced?¡±


    Kim just shrugged. ¡°You¡¯re going to have to play it by ear, but it sounds like you¡¯ve got a medical theme going on so it shouldn¡¯t be too much trouble.¡±


    ¡°Uh, yeah¡­¡± She nodded, trying to ignore the fact that the machine in her hands was passively generating enough power to run this entire building if not the block, as well as having the knowledge necessary to bend gravity over its knee. ¡°No trouble at all¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -For signing up with the club as an M.A.D. Maya can now build 1 project for free each week by building it at the M.A.D. club. (Note: Things that are obviously Weapons and Armor cannot be built with these resources.)


    -Grown a bit closer to Kim.


    ---


    Given how she didn¡¯t have much time left in the day to actually work on anything -and the fact that the whispers kept bugging her to build something- she decided to try looking at and finishing the project she¡¯d been working on before she¡¯d gotten her nose bleed a few days prior.


    ¡°Okay, do either of you actually remember writing any of this?¡± She asked herself, as she shifted through a number of modifications to her Simple AI that would enable it to be able to crack more secure computers and even access any public servers those computers may be attached to without her having to take direct control of it.


    (No¡­ I was admittedly out of it towards the end of the day.) Her inner logic admitted.


    (Same.) Her inner madness metaphorically nodded. (Though I do think it was my part of the brain that was bleeding, so let¡¯s try to avoid that next time okay?)


    She couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes. ¡°My brain wasn¡¯t ¡®bleeding¡¯ my nose was.¡±


    (You do know that nosebleeds and ¡®worst headache of my life¡¯ are the common symptoms of a brain aneurysm, don¡¯t you?) Her inner passion asked dryly.


    ¡°Quit exaggerating.¡± She told her inner child, as she began cleaning up the mess of code in front of her, her migraine apparently having wrecked her equivalent of a coding grammar.


    (Regardless of if our other self is exaggerating, we may not wish to push ourselves that hard again.) Her inner reason chimed in. (After all, we don¡¯t want to push Izzy even further than we already have.)


    She frowned, her fingers stopping just above her keyboard. ¡°I guess so¡­¡±


    (Good, because there are three of us in here, plus the whispers, and it¡¯s cramped enough without us losing any real estate to brain damage.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Simple AI upgraded to V1.4


    --AI can now Hack: Cell Phones, most Computers, and less secure servers.

 Turn 41

    Trail 41


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°So, this club you¡¯re joining, you¡¯re sure it¡¯s safe?¡± Her mam¨¢ asked as she measured out the ingredients for the next batch of cookies and Maya mixed together the current one.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a¡­ tinkerers club, they run a nearby science museum so it¡¯s free for teenagers in exchange for occasionally helping clean up the museum or watching the kids.¡± She explained, editing her story just a bit since she wasn¡¯t quite ready to deal with the fallout of anyone else in her life finding out about her Deviancy while she was still trying to deal with Vi¡¯s worries.


    (That and it¡¯ll be easier to convince the rest if we already have Viviana¡¯s support.) Her inner reason reminded her.


    (Not that we should need it.) Her inner passion scoffed.


    ¡°Well, if you¡¯re sure.¡± Her mam¨¢ sighed. ¡°Though if you¡¯re going to be traveling so far from the house I¡¯d rather see this place for myself, mija.¡±


    (Why? I mean we run off almost every day, and you don¡¯t care about that¡­)


    (Yes, but I believe she thinks we¡¯re only visiting the game shop a few blocks away.) Her inner logic pointed out. (Which is a misunderstanding we may wish to keep intact given our actual extracurriculars.)


    (Right¡­) It honestly felt a little manipulative to her, but she couldn¡¯t say her other selves reasoning was off.


    (Well, I am our inner reason after all).


    Shaking her attention, she turned back to her mam¨¢, ¡°That¡¯s fine, I¡¯m actually trying to figure out if I can get everyone discounts to the actual museum tours, but that uh, that might take me a few weeks.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d be fun.¡± Her mam¨¢ admitted before frowning. ¡°But if you really end up liking this place you shouldn¡¯t take advantage of it or else they might throw you out.¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to find out either way.¡± She shrugged, before looking at the bowl in her hands. ¡°This look good? Because there¡¯s still a few chunks but they aren¡¯t breaking up.¡±


    Her mam¨¢ checked the bowl. ¡°Mm, scrape the bottom and make sure none is sticking, if there is keep stirring if not it might just be the batter clumping together a little too thickly.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± She nodded, shifting the thick batter around.


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to mam¨¢ gained 4XP to Cooking


    --Currently: Lv. 3 (5/8)


    -Gained 1XP to Bluffing. (Bonus Point)


    --Currently: Lv. 2 (5/6)


    ---


    ¡°So, what are you up two up to?¡± She asked her brothers as she joined them at the kitchen table while her cookies baked in the oven.


    ¡°Drawing.¡± Seamus told her, though he didn¡¯t sound particularly happy.


    ¡°Yeah, got to get those bad vibes out with a creative outlet.¡± Tommy explained, as his pencil moved back and forth rapidly.


    ¡°Oh, what kind of bad vibes have got you down?¡±


    ¡°School.¡± Seamus growled, or as close as a four-year-old could manage at least.


    ¡°Ah, gotcha.¡± She nodded in understanding, as her eyes slowly drifted to the extremely detailed pencil sketch of a pretty young woman. ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Just someone I saw on the street.¡± Tommy admitted. ¡°Don¡¯t know what it was about her but there was just¡­ something I had to draw out you know?¡±


    ¡°Sort of?¡± She¡¯d gotten a couple bouts of inspiration here and there that demanded she bring them to life. (Well, them or the whispers anyway.)


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    While she couldn¡¯t be entirely sure of the color due to being a pencil sketch, the woman had long wavy hair of a darker color, with a much brighter color of eyes that, with the detail Tommy had put in, gave off an almost haunting feel, despite the young woman¡¯s seemingly cheerful expression.


    (You know Tommy really is a good artist.)


    ¡°How do you get that much detail into your drawings?¡±


    Tommy blinked before looking back at her, ¡°With pencils a lot of it is about pressure variance, and¡­ Actually, here let me show you.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to Tommy¡¯s help Art gained 4XP.


    --Currently: Lv. 2 (4/6)


    -Can now take Art lessons from Tommy.


    ---


    Maya couldn¡¯t help but coo internally as she followed Kim into a large room with a soft padding like material on the ground, and wall covered in see through cubbies housing a number of little beds and hamster-like creatures. Or rather she couldn¡¯t help but coo at the two or three dozen little critters gathered in the center of the room and watching PBS kids on a little TV.


    ¡°Okay, it¡¯ll still be a few days until we¡¯ve got everything together for your space, but if you don¡¯t mind hanging around my lab you can work on¡­¡± Kim paused before turning back to Maya. ¡°What are you working on?¡±


    ¡°An upgrade for my COMP.¡± She explained holding up the electronic brick. ¡°I think I can rework it to get a little more power out of my battery before I have to remake the whole thing.¡± It was also one of the few inventions she had at the moment that didn¡¯t just scream ¡®Mask¡¯ to anyone who saw it.


    ¡°Ah, power issues.¡± The other M.A.D. nodded in understanding, as she picked up a few of the critters who¡¯d begun to clamor for her attention. ¡°I mostly deal with biological stuff but the few bits of tech I use are still power hogs. Honestly, if it wasn¡¯t for Kevin¡¯s stuff I doubt I¡¯d be able to cover the electricity bills.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh, Kevin is a tech M.A.D. specializes in electricity and power supplies. He covered the roof in these tricked out solar panels that take in like three times as much power as the normal kind. Let¡¯s us more or less break even with all of the tech everyone has running in here.¡± Kim explained, as she took a few of the critters to a table covered in what looked to be a bunch of veterinarian supplies.


    ¡°Huh¡­ That¡¯s cool.¡±


    Power wasn¡¯t really something she had to worry about in the long term given how much a single COMP could generate. The only reason she had to put so much effort into upgrading her COMP was because she was trying to get as much power as possible without carrying a bunch of the bricks with her everywhere. That said, she could still appreciate the fact that another M.A.D. could set up a system that could do the same for the M.A.D. club, without outright breaking reality.


    (Heh, our hacking is so broken.)


    (And these critters are adorable.) She agreed, playing with one of the curious little critters.


    Scene Consequences


    -COMP upgraded to Mk 1.6


    --Max COMP power supply increased to 25


    ---


    Knowing that she couldn¡¯t work on too many projects without possibly drawing attention to herself at the M.A.D. club, she decided to work on her second project from the secure anonymity of her lab.


    The project in question was figuring out how to best copy the foam padding of the helmet she¡¯d bought a few weeks prior. After all, once she figured this out she could make a number of improvements to her armor without increasing the weight by very much. She could even apply said padding to DM-1 and any future minions to improve their own defenses. (The only problem is figuring out how¡­)


    Since the padding was made of several plastic materials, reshaping it was easy enough with a few minor tweaks, but that didn¡¯t solve her problem of actually making more of the padding. Something the whispers were being oddly quiet about.


    (Perhaps instead of creating our padding from scratch, we can try scanning the existing padding?) Her inner logic offered in partial solution.


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± She conceded, before grabbing her COMP and Headset off of another table.


    It took a few tried and while it wasn¡¯t quite a full chemical makeup, at the very least she was able to get enough data about the polymer that she thought she might be able to make a cheap knock off of the stuff if she poured enough plastic into it. (Though I can probably do better in the long run.)


    (Eh, it doesn¡¯t matter if we can do better just so long as we can build a proof of concept.) Her inner passion argued impatiently.


    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong.¡± She admitted, as she loaded up an updated version of her Alchemy() program.


    (We never are!) Her inner madness laughed as she gathered together a few bits of plastic.


    Weakening the plastics molecular structure, she began to roll the plastic into a small ball before applying the new sub-function of her Alchemy () program, causing the ball to slowly expand to twice its size.


    ¡°Uh¡­ was it supposed to do that?¡± She asked more than a little unsure herself, as she inspected the sphere, taking note of the slight change in its texture.


    (If it was, it¡¯s possible that this new polymer has a lower density than the plastic we¡¯re used to working with.) Her inner reason theorized. (Which fits since the increase in surface area and volume would also have an influence on pressure and impact force. So-)


    (That doesn¡¯t matter.) Her inner passion cut in. (All that matters is if-)


    She smooshed the sphere in her hand without her programs.


    (-it¡¯s squishy!)


    ¡°Now we¡¯ve just got to figure out if it makes decent armor.¡± She nodded, once more smooshing the ball.


    (Squish.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Alchemy () upgraded to V1.3


    --Can now convert Plastic into a Foam padding.


    -Unlocked new upgrades.

 Turn 42

    Turn 42


    --- Maya ---


    As she came down the stairs for breakfast she once more found Tommy at the table working on drawing something out with a level of detail she herself was not capable of.


    (It¡¯s also of the same girl he was drawing yesterday.) She noted with some interest.


    (Teasing material?)


    (Teasing material.) She agreed. ¡°So, still drawing your mystery crush, huh?¡±


    Tommy barely glanced her way. ¡°Depends you still reading your smut?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not smut!¡± She cried, face red because she hadn¡¯t known the story he saw was going to be smut until the exact scene he read.


    (Not that that stopped us from reading.)


    (Honestly, we¡¯ve read better.)


    Shaking her head, and pointedly ignoring the voices in her head, she turned her attention  back to the drawing Tommy was sketching in an attempt to divert attention away from herself, before noticing something.


    ¡°Why does this one feel different than your last one?¡±


    ¡°I told you there¡¯s something about her I¡¯ve got to draw.¡± Tommy reminded her. ¡°I don¡¯t know what that thing is, so I¡¯m trying to draw her in as many emotions as I can.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but it¡¯s the same drawing as yesterday isn¡¯t it?¡± She couldn¡¯t see an actual difference between this one and the drawing she¡¯d seen yesterday, but she could feel a difference. (Somehow...)


    ¡°Ah, that...¡± He looked at the picture he¡¯d drawn and set it to the side before grabbing a spare sheet of paper and drawing a bunch of lines and sketch patterns on it. ¡°Alright, so you see every line and pattern has a ¡®feel¡¯ to it, now on their own they don¡¯t give off too much of this feel but, when you put them together in a large enough volume.¡± Tommy gestured to the sketch of the girl he¡¯d been working on.


    ¡°Huh...¡±


    ¡°Here, why don¡¯t you give it a try.¡± Tommy suggested, offering her a pencil.


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to Tommy gained 4XP to Art


    --*Skill Level Up* Art Lv. 3 (2/8)


    ---


    Despite the fact that she had a steady stream of supplies available from the M.A.D. club, she was also aware of the fact that if she started working on too many projects or projects that were clearly Mask gear, then she may draw attention to the fact that she was probably on the higher end of the M.A.D. scale. Something she wanted to avoid given her kidnapping nearly two months prior.


    (At least not until we can crush our enemies beneath our heel anyway.)


    (Quite.)


    What this meant was that even with said club resources, she was still going to need resources she could work with in her own lab. Which is why she found herself in the forest just past the city¡¯s suburbs, searching for anything she felt could be used to feed her next biological project after collecting her new critter.


    (Speaking of, what exactly are we feeding this thing?)


    ¡°We made it capable of digesting pretty much anything organic.¡± She reminded the voice in her head. ¡°But I¡¯d rather not carry around a garbage bag full of leaves, so let¡¯s try to find something with a decent amount of mass to it.¡±


    (In that case wouldn¡¯t it be easiest to acquire a fallen log or tree branch?)


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°Maybe, but we¡¯ll still have to heft around whatever we¡¯re carrying. Which is going to be a pain no matter what we grab.¡± She admitted with a resigned sigh.


    (You know this honestly wouldn¡¯t be so bad if we just grew our own organics.) Her inner madness pointed out.


    (Perhaps, but we¡¯re using our Biopod for our critter at the moment.) Her inner logic explained.


    (Then just build another Biopod, we¡¯ve got the materials.)


    ¡°We don¡¯t have the materials yet.¡± She argued, ¡°Hell, that¡¯s why we¡¯re walking through the woods like a pair of-¡±


    She tripped over a piece of wood that had been half buried beneath the dirt, leaves, and grass.


    (On second thought let¡¯s build an entire greenhouse, because fuck nature.) Her inner passion growled as she kicked the piece of moss covered wood, revealing it to be a fair bit bigger than she¡¯d initially thought.


    (If I break it down I can work with this.) She decided, wanting out of the forest as soon as possible.


    (Wouldn¡¯t a greenhouse just be contributing to nature¡¯s growth?) Her inner reason pointed out.


    (Yeah, but it¡¯d be our nature and it¡¯ll love us. Unlike this wild humanity hating bullshit! Seriously why the fuck do people enjoy camping?! Nature hates us!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (D6=6 + (Crit D6=4)=10) Organics


    ---


    Seeing as it was on the way, Maya decided to take a second detour through the trainyard to pick up a few bits of scrap in addition to the wood she¡¯d already grabbed. After breaking said wood down in a violent act of reve-(Ahem.)- recycling.


    Luckily, given how much metal was simply lying around the train yard abandoned, she didn¡¯t have to go to as much effort to find said metal as she would to get a hold of her other resources. Meaning she was able to collect everything with relative speed, before returning back to the hospital with her haul.


    ¡°Which is a good thing given how much all of this shit weighs.¡± She groaned, dropping the bag full of metal and wood on the hospital floor, before cracking her back as she stood up straight.


    (Yes, we may¡¯ve overdone it all things considered.) Her inner logic admitted, her opinion coming perhaps just a little too late as they stared at the large amount of supplies they¡¯d managed to gather.


    (You think?) Her inner passion growled. (In fact, you know what? This is minion work, let¡¯s add some more to the to do list so they can carry all of this shit.)


    (Hmm, you do realize that we¡¯d still have to transport the material here as well as whatever minions we assign to the task.) Her inner reason pointed out. (Meaning if done correctly, we¡¯d actually be carrying significantly more weight than this.)


    (Not if we just gravity COMP all of that shit so it doesn¡¯t weigh as much!)


    (Actually, thinking about it. Why didn¡¯t we just do that in the first place?)


    (...)


    (...)


    (...)


    ¡°Fucking idiot!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (D6=5) Scrap


    ---


    Once she¡¯d calmed down from her (stupid) revelation and managed to stash all of her newly acquired resources, she took out her armor and a fair amount of plastic so that she could begin applying foam padding to the inside of her armor.


    ¡°Actually¡­ thinking about this, this is going to be a bit of a tight fit.¡± She admitted, as she began working a layer of the foam padding to the inside of her armor. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m going to have to take the plastic bits that are already here and reshape them so this whole thing is a size larger if I want to have more than a millimeter of padding.¡±


    (Which isn¡¯t worth shit.)


    (Actually, at the very least it¡¯d prevent any of the minor injuries the harder armor pieces might cause us via simply wearing the armor.) Her inner logic explained.


    (Yeah, but the whole point of this is to protect us, not be comfortable!) Her passion argued.


    ¡°It can be both.¡± She told the voices in her head, hoping to kill another pointless argument before it could begin.


    (Our arguments are not pointless, they provide exposition and comedic relief!)


    ¡°To who?¡± She scoffed. ¡°You¡¯re in my head, and all your arguing ever does is give me a headache.¡±


    (Well, it¡¯s not for you so neh.)


    (Don¡¯t be childish.)


    (Maya ¡®s the one being childish!) Her inner child cried. (Hey!)


    (No I¡¯m not.) Her inner logic disagreed, as she turned the majority of her focus back to resizing her armor for the new layer of padding, fully resigning herself to listening to another one of their arguments.


    (Yes she is!)


    (How is she being childish?)


    (Because I¡¯m part of her, so if I¡¯m being childish then Maya is the one being childish! In fact because we¡¯re both a part of Maya that means you¡¯re being childish too!)


    She actually had to stop what she was doing upon hearing that one, if only to process it.


    (I¡­ I can¡¯t actually argue against that one¡­ and that hurts me.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Armor upgraded to Mk. 1.1


    --Physical defense increased by a small amount.

 Turn 43

    Turn 43


    --- Maya ---


    Since Ying and Aisha were both busy with their own things during lunch, be it Ying setting up her numerous extracurriculars or whatever her new friend Aisha did on her own time, she  instead made her way to the school library where she searched out a book on armors either modern or old. An interest developed after her work the previous day, upgrading her armor and then realizing how few ideas she had for her armor.


    Of course, given how they were in the age of masks, the first relevant book she came across was a book focusing on M.A.D., what they could do, and how the Deviancy had developed culturally in the few decades since they were publicly outed.


    Admittedly the majority of the book was the kind of complex cultural dissection that could be expected of a school approved book, but that didn¡¯t mean there was nothing in the book related to armor. Especially since said book often listed and described the equipment of the more prominent M.A.D.s out there.


    ¡°The Iron Guardian?¡± She asked herself, looking over the long list of the New Haven hero¡¯s gear. ¡°He¡¯s supposed to be one of the Hero Guild¡¯s best tech M.A.D.s.¡±


    (Nah.) Her inner passion dismissed. (Look how heavy that gear is, we¡¯d barely be able to move until we figure out how to build servos into the armor to carry the weight for us.)


    (What if we used our gravity tech to adjust the armor¡¯s weight?) Her inner reason argued. (It wouldn¡¯t be nearly as much of a problem then.)


    (Maybe, but it¡¯d still be more power armor than a basic set.)


    ¡°Nothing wrong with that.¡± She reminded herself, before flipping to another M.A.D. in the hopes they had something more agile.


    (Ooh, bio-armor?) Her inner madness stopped her on a page featuring an M.A.D. wrapped in an organic armor of some kind, insect carapace and reptilian scales both prominent in the suit¡¯s design.


    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not too sure about wearing a living creature.¡± She grimaced, the idea not at all pleasant.


    (Come on! We could build our own symbiote suit!) Her passion appealed to her inner nerd.


    (Mm, perhaps just a pin in this one.) Her inner logic offered in compromise. (If we did attempt this, we¡¯d need a fair amount of skill in biological matters to make sure the suit doesn¡¯t attempt to eat us or worse.)


    ¡°Right,¡± She nodded flipping through a few more pages before- ¡°Nope.¡±


    She slammed the book shut, trying to pretend she hadn¡¯t just seen a suit made out of what the whispers were insisting was flesh and bone, human flesh and bone.


    (Why the fuck was that in a school book?!) Her inner child cried.


    (I suppose it''s a book on M.A.D.s not heroic M.A.D.s.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    ¡°Still that¡¯s like¡­ Royale levels of fucked up.¡± She grimaced, remembering the last time she¡¯d heard of something like this.


    (Perhaps he was one, after all they did leave a mark on modern culture.) Her inner logic admitted.


    (More like a scar¡­)


    Scene Consequences


    -New Armor Upgrades and their requirements available.


    ---


    ¡°Ooh, I¡¯m so excited!¡± She couldn¡¯t help but cheer as the excess nutrient serum began to drain from her pod.


    (Yes! So, what if we might be responsible for the zerg apocalypse we have created life!) Her inner madness cackled, before continuing in a more subdued manner. (That¡¯s like a big milestone for mad scientist types.)


    (Quite.) Her inner reason agreed, as the last of the serum drained revealing her new critters. (Oh dear¡­)


    (Uh, wasn¡¯t there only supposed to be one rat thing in here?) Her inner passion questioned as a small pale rodent with a slightly large head, and another more commonly sized rodent both began to blink themselves awake.


    (I suppose we did leave the bio-pod cooking for a little too long, which when combined with a slight excess of nutrients led to the growth of a twin.) Her inner logic reasoned out.


    (So we created life twice?) Her inner madness confirmed, before laughing in her namesake. (That just means we¡¯re twice as kickass as those other losers!)


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    The smaller of the two critters turned to look at her with an innocent, curious, and most importantly intelligent gleam to its eyes.


    ¡°Oh, hello there little ones.¡± She greeted, picking the two critters up as both of the fully grown creatures began to imprint on her.


    The larger of the critters looked at her before waving happily as the smaller one tilted its head.


    ¡°My name is Maya, and you two are¡­¡± (Need to account for the fact that they¡¯re twins¡­) ¡°LCM-1A,¡± She raised the smaller Critter who¡¯d woken up first. ¡°and LCM-1B¡± she raised the other critter.


    (You¡¯re naming conventions are astounding.) Her inner reason told her dryly.


    (Shut up.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained: Little Critter Minion(s)


    --These minions while not naturally combat capable, are capable of giving assistance with various projects around the lab providing a number of bonuses based on their given tasks.


    --Overgrown Bonus: Grow a second critter that will help the first with all tasks.


    --Upkeep Cost: .5 = 1 Organics every week.


    -New Upgrades and Inventions Available


    -Bio-pod (Small) can be set with next project for no AP if resources are available this turn. (Choice moved to Turn choices.)


    ---


    With her little critters now awake, and nibbling away at their first meal, she began working on a project that her inner reason had reminded her of earlier in the day when they were discussing her various armor options.


    This project was a simple application of her gravity hacking into a more practical form, namely increasing her carry weight by creating a consistent and localized application of her gravity hack. Which is why she had to stitch a second layer of fabric over the electronic bits she¡¯d added to her backpack, while avoiding a fire hazard-


    ¡°Ouch!¡±


    -and stinging herself with her own needle.


    ¡°Hey! Sewing is not my specialty!¡± She told the voices in her head.


    (Oi, don¡¯t drag me into this, chica.) Her inner passions warned. (I hate sewing just as much as you do. I mean it¡¯s just so boring!)


    (Well, regardless of our actual skill or desire to, sewing is something we¡¯re going to have to get used to if we intend to implement any fabrics into our future costumes.) Her inner reason reminded the rest of her.


    (Ugh. Again, I vote for the bio-armor!) Her inner madness cried.


    ¡°Yeah- I mean no, to the bio-armor, but yeah, I¡¯m putting a minimum amount of fabrics into our costume design.¡± She decided. ¡°We¡¯ll be one of those urban heroes who¡¯s costume is cool, but still something you¡¯d wear in public¡­ minus all the extra metal bits.¡±


    (We¡¯d still need to know the basics to keep from having to replace all of our clothes each fight.) Her logic pointed out, forcing a grimace out of her when she realized she couldn¡¯t really argue with that.


    (Grr, fine you have a point¡­ But I¡¯m not letting it onto our skill list!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained Grav-Pack Mk. 1: Maya¡¯s backpack now passively reduces the weight of everything carried inside of it. (Weight reduction is based on Gravity Energy development.)


    -New Upgrade and Inventions available.


    ---


    As she was working on the last few bits and pieces for her Grav-Pack, she noticed DM-1 watching his two new siblings with a mix of curiosity and concern that the two little critters were giving him in equal measure. Or 1A was while 1B was more focused on his food.


    (I can already tell where all the brains went on these two.)


    (Hey, don¡¯t go insulting our newest minions like that!) She thought rather than said, not wanting any of her minions to hear what she was talking about regardless of their level of comprehension.


    (I was only insulting one of them.)


    Frowning, she turned her attention back to her three minions as a thought occurred to her. (You know we really should give DM-1 a little more attention.)


    (What do you mean?)


    (Well, we¡¯ve had DM-1 for almost a month and we¡¯ve barely given him any upgrades.) She reminded herself. (And now that we¡¯ve got more minions we don¡¯t want him to start feeling neglected.)


    (If he¡¯s even capable of that yet.) Her inner madness pointed out.


    She shook her head. (Doesn¡¯t matter.)


    ¡°DM-1!¡± She called, causing all three of her minions to turn their attentions onto her as she patted the table next to her Grav-Pack. ¡°Up on the table, we¡¯re giving you an upgrade.¡±


    The little drone gave her a little jig of excitement before climbing onto the table and entering sleep mode without any prompting.


    (Hmm, we really do make a smart minion.) She couldn¡¯t help but think as she began using her tools to shape some metal and electronic bits into a tool that would allow DM-1 to cut metal into smaller and more easily carried pieces.


    ¡°Going to need two sets of these.¡± She realized, as she looked over the first completed drone tool. ¡°Eh, I¡¯ll make another one after installing this one.¡±


    Installing the first half of the upgrade took her a fair bit longer than she liked, largely due to the fact that she had to move a couple of pieces around DM-1 so that he could sheathe his tools when not in use, but eventually she did manage to get everything settled in a way that wouldn¡¯t make movements awkward for her little drone.


    Having finished with the first installation, she turned back to her tools to put the next piece together, only to freeze as she found 1A and 1B working together to build the other tool she needed to upgrade DM-1.


    (And doing a fairly good job of it too¡­) She realized with a touch of awe, as the whispers informed her that her latest minions were actually doing the job just a touch more efficiently than she had moments before. (A really good job of it¡­)


    Scene Consequences


    -DM-1 and all future drone minions can now collect an additional unit of Scrap each turn they spend gathering it.


    -Thanks to your Critters¡¯ assistance 1 Scrap refunded.


    -*Skill Level Up* Metalworking is now Lv. 2 (0/6)

 Turn 44

    Turn 44


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°So you sure you want to do this?¡± She asked, taking a seat across from Aisha.


    ¡°Yes, I am.¡± Aisha nodded, laying her cards out on the table. ¡°I¡¯m tired of you bad mouthing Madness decks every other turn.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯m just going to have to prove how crap they really are.¡± She declared, laying out her own as she stared down the other teen.


    ¡°You two are being very dramatic over a children¡¯s card game.¡± Ying pointed out from the sidelines where she was reading a book.


    ¡°It is not just a children¡¯s card game!¡± She scowled at her best friend. ¡°It¡¯s a collectible strategy card game where you create a team of the best heroes and villains to crush your enemies!¡±


    Ying looked up from her book curiously. ¡°Do they have the Witch of Blackwell?¡±


    She couldn''t help but frown. ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°Nevermind.¡± Ying sighed, immediately losing interest as she resumed reading her book.


    (Okay¡­) Deciding that was a matter for another day, she turned back to Aisha. ¡°Ready to reveal?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Aisha nodded as they both flipped the three cards they¡¯d set on the table.


    On her side of the field were three M.A.D. heroes. Front and center was Iron Guardian, a man in metal armor who was also (the hero guild¡¯s number one tech M.A.D.) On her mid left was Flora-ecent a bio-M.A.D. whose picture was surrounded by glowing plant vines. And lastly on mid right was Blendin Splicer, a Bio-M.A.D. in a lab coat with a bioengineered monstrosity at his side.


    ¡°You weren¡¯t kidding about the M.A.D. minion deck.¡± Aisha noted, drawing Maya¡¯s attention to the other teen¡¯s cards.


    Front and center amongst Aisha¡¯s team was a muscular teen in a leather jacket covered in a  black thorn pattern. Mid-Center she had a young dark haired girl without a care in the world as dark tendrils began to rise out of her shadow. And lastly, mid-back was a man in a black suit with a palm of black flames.


    ¡°Was kind of expecting a minion deck out of you too.¡± She confessed, not seeing any of the Wonderlanders she was familiar with amongst the other girl¡¯s heroes.


    ¡°Figured you were.¡± Aisha nodded. ¡°That¡¯s why I used a different set of Madness masks.¡±


    ¡°Fair.¡± She conceded before frowning as she finally recognized the teen in leather. ¡°Hold up. Since when is Styles Fleeting a Madness user?¡±


    Aisha blinked. ¡°Uh, always?¡±


    ¡°I thought he was an Arcane?¡± She admitted, picking the hero¡¯s card up as she read his stats. (Madness User, Scrapper-Bruiser, Hero, five attack, fifty speed, twenty-five HP, one range and movement with no armor, resistances, or weaknesses.)


    ¡°No, he¡¯s¡­¡± Aisha¡¯s face scrunched up as she thought about it. ¡°I¡¯m not really sure how it works, but he¡¯s got this whole weird short-range field¡­ thing, that lets him manipulate things in his favor.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, his¡­ Rule of Cool?¡± She asked in disbelief as she read the ability name. ¡°Spend a point of Madness to allow Styles to negate an enemy¡¯s dodge effect or to avoid an incoming attack. If it wasn¡¯t his only ability that¡¯d be kind of busted.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s even worse when you realize he produces two units of madness each turn.¡± Aisha pointed out.


    ¡°So he¡¯s an anti-dodge dodge-tank?¡± (At least M.A.D.s aren¡¯t big on dodge effects.) ¡°Still, how do they know he¡¯s a madness user and not an Arcane? I mean most madness users are either the powerless masks, or Wonderlanders.¡±


    ¡°Madness is more of a meta-energy generated through thought and emotion, while magic -or ¡®Anima¡¯ as its scientific name states- is a passive energy generated by life regardless of said life¡¯s ability to think or feel. In fact, despite lacking both sentience and sapience some plants actually manage to generate more magic than most humans, such as Methuselah the five-thousand year old tree.¡± Ying lectured from the sidelines.


    For a moment both Aisha and Maya simply stared at Ying, before finally Maya had to ask, ¡°Where the fuck did you learn all of that?¡±


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    Ying shook the book in her hands.


    ¡°I read.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to the Aisha and Ying.


    ---


    Once she was done hanging out with her friends, Maya quickly made her way towards her lab for a productive day of programming.


    As soon as she entered the hospital room she¡¯d turned into a lab she was greeted by all three of her minions, though most excitably by 1B who nearly fell off the counter while waving at her.


    (Yep definitely not the smart twin.)


    (Hush.)


    ¡°Hi, boys, all of you doing alright?¡± She asked, receiving a number of nods (or at least the equivalent there of.) ¡°Good, then it¡¯s time to science!¡±


    (Mad Science!)


    (Quite.)


    With this thought in mind she made her way to her chair and computer before beginning to work on the bits and pieces necessary for her to transfer the parts of his programming that allowed DM-1 to predict someone¡¯s visual range and apply it to her own UI system.


    There was of course some mild issues in the fact that the extreme uptick in processing power, requiring an actual drain on her power supply unlike the Headset¡¯s usual passive functions. (But that¡¯s nothing I can¡¯t handle.)


    What she could handle slightly less was the fact that just like last time her newest minions felt the need to try and help her with her project. Something that she usually would¡¯ve found cute and adorable if not for the fact that said help was actively setting her back because neither of her newborn minions actually knew anything about coding.


    (You know, I suddenly realize what it was like for mam¨¢ back when I tried ¡®helping¡¯ her as a kid¡­)


    (Too bad we don¡¯t have a TV to distract them with.)


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s enough halp- I mean, helping you two.¡± She informed her minions before picking both of the LCMs up and taking them to DM-1. ¡°So why don¡¯t you two play with your big brother, maybe he can show you a thing or two about helping around the lab. Hm?¡±


    DM-1 paused as if taken aback before looking at her in what she assumed was a, ¡®why is this my problem?¡¯ kind of way.


    ¡°Like I said, you¡¯re their older sibling so it¡¯s your job to take care of them and show them how the world works.¡±


    (Isn¡¯t that the same bullshit our parents fed us about Izzy?)


    (Shut up.)


    ---


    With all of her minions sufficiently distracted by ¡®sibling bonding time¡¯ Maya was given enough time to actually finish the project she¡¯d set out to do at the beginning and port her drone program upgrade to her UI system. A rather straightforward procedure when she didn¡¯t have to undo and fix her minions¡¯ well intentioned halping.


    Of course this only accounted for her newest minions¡¯ assistance.


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± She asked herself, finally looking up from her computer screen for the first time in hours.


    (You¡¯ll find out in a moment.)


    (Ooh, ominous!)


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯m not liking where this is going.¡±


    The sudden sound of something breaking behind her caused her to flinch and close her eyes.


    ¡°Scale of one to ten, how much do I not want to turn around right now?¡±


    (Probably a five or six.)


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s not too bad.¡± She admitted, reluctantly turning towards her minions to find DM-1 instructing the LCMs on how to do something to a surprisingly detailed cut-out of a squirrel. ¡°Uh, what am I looking at here?¡±


    After another moment, DM-1 nodded before stepping away from the LCMs and the cut-out. From there 1A seemed to almost snap his fingers just before 1B lunged at the cut-out and began ripping it to shreds.


    (Aw, he¡¯s teaching them how to annihilate their enemies!)


    Scene Consequences


    -UI Management upgraded to V1.4


    --Headset can now spend a unit of power to calculate and display vision cones of everyone in sight. Slightly increasing all stealth rolls for a scene. (Costs 1 Power.)


    -Critters cannot assist with Software at current level.


    -Grown a bit closer to minions.


    ---


    Deciding that despite their¡­ bonding it might be best to give her minions a little bit of space, she once more grabbed DM-1 and snuck him over to the trainyard.


    ¡°You remember what to do here boy?¡± She asked her minion after finding a suitable car for him to stash whatever he finds.


    DM-1 nodded happily before running to a nearby piece of metal and dragging it over.


    ¡°Right, but remember you¡¯ve got tools to help you with your gathering now too.¡± She reminded the little drone.


    DM-1 seemed to process that for a moment before staring at the metal for a second one. Eventually however, the little drone succeeded in figuring out how to activate its new tools and released a few bits of metal from just beneath its camera where a mouth would be if the drone was more organic in nature.


    There was a faint clicking for a couple of seconds, before two of the metal bits ignited revealing a pair of miniature blow torches to help DM-1 in dismantling bigger pieces of metal.


    ¡°Very good.¡± She clapped, like a proud parent whose child had just managed their first steps.


    (Well we did make him, and these are his first steps towards proper destruction.) Her inner madness pointed out.


    She gave that a huff of amusement. ¡°I think you mean construction.¡±


    (I know what I said.)


    Scene Choice


    Have DM-1 work


    []-day and night. (Gathers 4 Scrap per Turn, but more likely to be detected.)


    [X]-only at night. (Gathers 2 Scrap per Turn, and gain a bonus to avoiding detection.)

 Turn 45

    Turn 45


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Hey, Seamus how are you doing today?¡± She asked, sitting down for breakfast.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have to go to school today!¡± the four year old cheered.


    ¡°Neither do I!¡± She cheered too, since that was definitely something worth cheering about. ¡°What are you going to do with your day off?¡±


    Seamus seemed to think about it, before giving a decisive nod as he said. ¡°I¡¯m going to play.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nice, I-¡±


    ¡°With you.¡± Seamus added pointing a finger at her, something that earned a laugh from her eavesdropping mother.


    ¡°Well, uh,¡± (what exactly did we have planned for today?)


    (Kim wanted us to stop by later today, then we were going to gather a few resources, before likely spending our afternoon tinkering in the lab.) Her inner secretary informed her.


    (Mm, the Kim thing isn¡¯t until around noon so we can kill a couple of hours.)


    ¡°Well what do you know? That¡¯s what I was planning to do today too.¡± She (falsely) admitted.


    (Hey, it¡¯s to make a four year old happy. So, zip it.) She told herself before asking,¡°So, what do you feel like doing today Seamus?¡±


    ¡°How about you two take Missy for a walk?¡± Her mam¨¢ suggested as she put a plate in front of her and Seamus. ¡°The other kids are all busy today, and she hasn¡¯t really gotten out of the house since all of you started school.¡±


    ¡°Ah, poor girl.¡± She cooed as the pit bull wandered over having heard her name. ¡°Everyone¡¯s neglecting you, but don¡¯t worry me and Seamus are going to make sure you burn out all of that energy, aren¡¯t we Seamus?¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± Seamus nodded. ¡°Missy ¡®s going to play with us so she doesn¡¯t have to feel lonely.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to Seamus and Missy.


    ---


    ¡°So who exactly did you want me to meet?¡± She asked, having finally found Kim amongst the labyrinth that was the M.A.D. Club.


    ¡°Do you remember me telling you about Melvin?¡± Kim asked, as she led Maya past a number of twists and turns.


    (Ergh, you would think a building of scientists would be more organized than this¡­) Her inner reason criticized with a mental grimace.


    (To be fair they are mad scientists.) She pointed out to herself, before answering Kim. ¡°You said he¡¯s the guy who set up the electrical stuff for the building, right?¡±


    (Yeah, for all we know their inner mes are running this show. Heh-heh-heh-ha!) Her own madness chimed in with a maniacal laugh.


    (This place would be on fire if that was the case.)


    ¡°Right,¡± Kim nodded. ¡°Well, since you said your stuff seems to have a more electronic bend to things than me and my critters, I figured I could-¡±


    The other teen was cut off as one of the nearby rooms shook with a loud explosion, before black smoke quickly began to escape from beneath its doorway.


    ¡°Uh, you okay in there Jim?¡± Kim called with an alarming lack of worry.


    ¡°I¡¯m good, auto-extinguisher already put it out.¡± Jim called back.


    (You were saying?)


    (I am significantly less comfortable inside of this death trap.)


    ¡°Should I be worried?¡± She asked, sharing her inner reason¡¯s concern.


    ¡°No, no. This kind of thing happens all the time.¡± Kim assured her in that way that did the opposite. ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it eventually.¡±


    (I very much doubt that.)


    (Yeah¡­ uh, our stuff doesn¡¯t blow up that much does it?)


    (I wish.)


    ¡°Either way, it¡¯s this one here.¡± Kim told her, stopping at a door at the end of the hall.


    ¡°And this one is?¡± She prodded.


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    Rather than answering her, Kim knocked on the door. ¡°Mel, you here?¡±


    ¡°Door¡¯s open!¡± ¡®Mel¡¯ yelled from within.


    ¡°Right, come on.¡± Kim waved for Maya to follow her into the room.


    ¡°Uh, sure... ¡± She nodded, admittedly a little wary of walking into another M.A.D.¡¯s domain. (Especially since the last one blew up.)


    Following the other girl through the room, Maya took note of the various cables and engines running along the walls, ceiling, and floor of the room, before eventually coming across a heavier set man with a darker skin tone.


    ¡°So is this the kid you were telling me about?¡± the large man asked.


    ¡°Uh-huh, this is Maya Williams. Newest member of the M.A.D. club.¡± Kim introduced her.


    ¡°Melvin Jameson.¡± The man told her, offering his hand. ¡°I¡¯m in charge of keeping this place up and running power-wise.¡±


    ¡°Uh, it¡¯s a pleasure?¡± She said, taking the man¡¯s hand despite not knowing why she was here. Hence why she sent Kim a questioning look.


    ¡°Right, well I saw you working on that power upgrade last week and I thought that since you seem to have a lot of ¡®tech stuff¡¯ with your specialty maybe Mel here could help you out with it.¡±


    ¡°What? I, I don¡¯t want to bother him.¡± She argued, (and she really didn¡¯t.)


    ¡°It¡¯s no bother.¡± Melvin told her matter of factly. ¡°It¡¯s the job of older members to help out the newer members.¡±


    ¡°But, but what about other new members?¡±


    Melvin merely snorted at this. ¡°We get one, maybe two new members a year.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s part of the reason everyone in the club knows everyone else.¡± Kim added with a bittersweet smile. ¡°There really aren¡¯t too many of us here.¡±


    ¡°To be expected, when M.A.D.s make up less than a percent of the population.¡± Melvin nodded. ¡°Either way it means I¡¯m free to give you a few tips until you get your feet under you.¡±


    ¡°But still I don¡¯t want to waste your time when you¡¯re working.¡± (As much as an M.A.D. teacher could probably help me.)


    ¡°Look, if anything you¡¯d be the one helping us out here.¡± Melvin admitted.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°You see I can only really come in on the weekends, so having someone who can patch up the grid while I¡¯m dealing with my own stuff would help the whole club out.¡± Melvin explained. ¡°At least if you¡¯re as good as Kimberly says you are.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well that isn¡¯t a problem at all.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Can now train with M.A.D. Members on weekends.


    --(If next turn ends on a 0, 1, 5, or 6 training will be available.)


    -Grown a bit closer to M.A.D. Club.


    ---


    (Uh, didn¡¯t we just drop DM-1 off yesterday?) Her inner passion asked as she once more made her way through the trainyard.


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­ it, it never hurts to have more resources.¡± She pointed out. ¡°Besides we still haven¡¯t given the grav-pack a hard test.¡±


    (Right¡­)


    From there it didn¡¯t take long for them to draw the attention of their little drone, even if he was supposed to be hiding during the day.


    ¡°Hey, DM-1, maybe we can help each other?¡±


    The little drone tilted his head in his own version of, ¡®How so?¡¯


    ¡°I need a lot of scrap to test one of my inventions, so I¡¯m wondering if you¡¯ve found a pile of scrap anywhere that you can¡¯t collect by yourself?¡±


    DM-1 paused for a moment to process her request before nodding and scuttling off.


    Taking that as her que to follow, she made her way after the little drone before finding him standing in front of a large pile of semi-rusted metal.


    (Can we even use this crap?) Her inner passion wondered.


    She paused for a moment, reaching for one of the numerous metal-based ideas she had fluttering through her head to try and draw out the whispers. Eventually they responded, telling her that she could salvage the metal for her purposes.


    ¡°Yep we can use this.¡± She nodded, sliding off her grav-pack. ¡°We just have to fit it all in here.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered ((D6=6) + (Crit D6=4) = 10) Scrap.


    ---


    She tossed her grav-pack onto her lab table, before rolling her shoulders.


    Even if the upgraded backpack let her carry more weight, it didn¡¯t change the fact that she still had to carry that weight all the way to her lab. (At least I could ride the bus most of that way.)


    ¡°So how are you two doing today?¡± She asked her littlest minions as they wandered up to her curiously.


    1B began making a lot of exaggerated expressions as he told her about everything they¡¯d been up to since the last time she¡¯d seen them, and (I have no idea what he¡¯s saying.)


    (You are not alone.)


    ¡°That¡¯s nice.¡± She told 1B while rubbing a finger on his head, before turning to the less expressive LCM. ¡°How about you, what¡¯ve you been up to 1A?¡±


    The little critter waved for her to follow him before scurrying off to another part of her lab.


    ¡°Urgh, more walking¡­¡± She groaned, following her minion.


    (Oi, isn¡¯t that supposed to be the other way around?!) Her inner madness cut in. (Our minions are supposed to be following us chica!)


    She rolled her eyes. (Oh, shut up¡­)


    Having made her way to the cabinet 1A had wanted her to see, she watched as the little critter pushed the door open to reveal a small bed made from a piece of scrap metal filled with shredded paper that her minion stood next to proudly.


    (I just realized we never built our minions a living area.) Her reason realized.


    ¡°That¡¯s, that¡¯s a fantastic bed 1A.¡± She cheered the minion, while suppressing her own feelings of guilt.


    (We¡¯re a shitty boss and our minions should not do a goddamned thing we tell them.)


    (Not helping!) She told herself bitterly, before realizing something. (Actually¡­)


    ¡°While you¡¯ve built a lovely bed here, you two probably need a couple of other things if you guys want to live comfortably.¡± She told her minion, as the whispers took what little she knew about rodent care and extrapolated from there. ¡°Want to help build all of it?¡±


    1A seemed to get an excited look on his mousy face as he nodded rapidly.


    Scene Consequences


    -LCMs now have a living area, increasing LCM mental and physical health regen by a small amount.


    -*Skill Level Up* Biology is now Lv. 2 (0/6)


    -For using Minion assist 1 Scrap refunded.

 Turn 46

    Turn 46


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Okay, so uh, what exactly did you want me to help with?¡± She asked, stepping into Melvin¡¯s workshop.


    ¡°First, tell me how much of this do you understand?¡± The other M.A.D. questioned, gesturing to a tangle of electronics and wiring on one side of the room. ¡°No pressure, I just want to see where you are.¡±


    ¡°Uh, in that case¡­ very little?¡± She offered, her eyes roaming the mess as she listened to what little advice the whispers were willing to give her. ¡°But it, um, I think it¡¯s a uh, makeshift¡­ breaker box?¡±


    ¡°In part.¡± Melvin nodded. ¡°Though that only covers one of its functions.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± She grimaced, not liking the idea of failing a test even if it was just to gauge where she was.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, like I said I just wanted to see where you¡¯re at.¡± Melvin assured her. ¡°The fact that you were able to figure out that this was a breaker box at all, means you might actually be able to help me keep this place running.¡±


    ¡°Really,¡± She glanced back at the electronic tangle as the whispers finally began to piece together some of the other parts. ¡°but if it¡¯s that easy can¡¯t another electronic M.A.D. help you out just as easily?¡±


    Melvin snorted at that. ¡°Have you seen how many explosions this place has on a weekly basis? There is no way in hell I¡¯m letting them anywhere near my baby.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but frown in confusion. ¡°But then why let me help out with this, just because I can figure out that little bit?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Melvin admitted bluntly, before gesturing towards a free work bench with a simple collection of wires and electronics. ¡°Instead, I¡¯m going to show you the basics of building your own grid. If that doesn¡¯t blow up, then I¡¯ll show you how to work on my baby¡­ in an emergency only.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s fair.¡± She nodded, moving towards said work area.


    (Especially since we¡¯ve already built a grid for our lab.) Her inner madness agreed.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s first?¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 3XP to Electronics.


    --*Skill Level Up* Electronics Lv. 5 (2/12)


    ---


    ¡°So¡­¡± She began, drawing the one word out for as long as possible.


    (You have no idea where to start do you?) Her inner logic sighed.


    ¡°No, no, I know exactly what I want to do.¡± She argued.


    (Just not where to start?)


    She couldn¡¯t really argue that.


    (Is this really that hard?) Her inner passion had to ask. (I mean teamwork isn¡¯t that hard of a concept to wrap your head around chica.)


    ¡°It is when you¡¯ve¡­ never actually been on a team.¡± She defended.


    (What about all of those P.E. classes we participated in?) Her inner reason asked.


    (You mean the ones we were picked last for?) She remembered bitterly.


    (All of our online games?) Her inner logic tried.


    (The ones where we get stuck with enemy feeding scrubs?) Her inner passion reminded even more bitterly.


    (Our¡­ siblings?)


    (Is that relationship working with the LCMs?)


    Her eyes drifted to where said minions were currently working on a few parts of the new drone she was going to build later. Or rather where 1A was ordering 1B around, while trying to keep the other minion from ruining his work.


    (Point¡­) Her inner reason conceded.


    ¡°No, let¡¯s be honest working with our siblings is the closest thing we know to teamwork.¡± She sighed, ¡°Let¡¯s just start there, and do what we can to keep them from getting in each other''s way.¡±


    (Oh, if we¡¯re doing that then we can probably get the whispers to spread it out to apply to all of our minions.) Her inner madness suggested. (After all they seem to really be into this whole family angle.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Drone Minion Protocols upgraded to V1.2


    --Drone Minions gain a small bonus to all actions when working with other minions. (This is not limited to Drone Minions.)


    ---


    ¡°Alright, you two finish those tools?¡± She asked her littlest minions, having left them to a task they¡¯d done before.


    1B began to nod excitedly, said tools in his hands.


    At least until 1A stopped him, took the tools, and proudly presented them himself.


    She rolled her eyes, unable to keep a grin off her face as she took the tools and began installing them onto her newest minion.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    (So skynet two: electric boogaloo.) Her inner passion laughed sarcastically. (I dig it.)


    (We¡¯re not causing skynet two.) She thought to herself, not wanting her minions to learn about skynet just yet.


    (Not that I don¡¯t trust them. I¡¯m just keeping them away from bad influences, like any parent would.)


    (Sure you are.)


    ¡°Look DM-2 isn¡¯t going to have any of those early behavioral problems DM-1 had, largely because DM-1 is going to be a fantastic big brother and explain to them why they shouldn¡¯t do certain things.¡± She told herself.


    (You mean like how he taught the LCMs to destroy their enemies?) Her inner reason pointed out dryly.


    (Yes, that actually is something older siblings are supposed to teach you.) Her inner madness admitted. (Though in our case it¡¯s our younger sister teaching us how to do that.)


    Deciding to ignore the taunts of the annoying little voice in her head -(Hey!)- she instead began DM-2¡¯s boot up process, slowly bringing the little drone into consciousness.


    After a few moments the little drone¡¯s re-(pink?) camera lights flickered on, and it glanced around the room.


    (Huh, we must have mis-colored the lens when we were making them.) Her inner reason noted.


    (This is what happens when we¡¯re working with subpar materials.)


    ¡°Well, I like it.¡± She told the voices in her head, drawing the attention of her newest drone. ¡°Why, hello there. DM-2, welcome to the world!¡±


    The drone stared at her for a moment, seemingly shivering in excitement, before taking off and running out of the lab.


    Left blinking at the drone¡¯s previous position, her eyes slowly drifted to the door as it drifted shut.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t supposed to happen.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -New Minion: DM-2 (Dementu)


    -Thanks to LCM assist 1 Scrap has been refunded.


    ---


    ¡°Where did that little drone get to¡­¡± She groaned, once more checking her COMP as she was forced to walk into an unexplored wing of the hospital. ¡°I don¡¯t get why she took off like that.¡±


    (Probably the personality randomizer screwing us over.) Her inner passion told her. (Then again timid bot is a lot safer than killer bot¡­ Though admittedly not as fun.)


    That made her pause. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but the random what-now?¡±


    (Oh, you didn¡¯t notice that bit?) Her inner madness asked curiously. (Our AI programming involves randomizing our minions personalities so that each one is seemingly distinct from the rest of its kind.)


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ you¡¯ve been making all of these skynet jokes and you didn¡¯t tell me about this?!¡± She yelled, idly hearing her voice echo throughout the hospital.


    (What? I thought after learning about their ability to learn and their sapiency you would¡¯ve started paying attention to our coding.)


    ¡°I have been, but that sounds like something hidden in what we¡¯ve already written!¡± She argued pointedly.


    (I thought you would¡¯ve gone over it by now.)


    ¡°You¡¯re in my head, when have you seen me do that?!¡±


    (I¡¯m going to be honest, I largely blank out on the boring parts of your life unless I think I can get a snarky remark off.) Her inner madness admitted.


    ¡°You what?¡± She scowled.


    (I do something similar.) Her inner reason confessed with some embarrassment. (Though I do try to chime in when you need moral support as well.)


    ¡°That¡¯s just¡­¡± She rubbed at her eyes, feeling a headache coming on because, ¡°The voices in my head are insane¡­¡±


    (Pretty sure anyone could¡¯ve told you that.)


    ¡°Just¡­ Just shut up.¡± She sighed, with a physically palpable amount of resignation, before taking in her exact surroundings.


    Like the rest of the hospital she hadn¡¯t bothered cleaning up, this wing was covered in rubble and bloodstains left after the years of inattention brought about after the hospital¡¯s infamous massacre. All of which she was more than used to navigating around, though unfortunately due to how far away this wing was from her main base of operations and thus the lack of lights within said wing, her surroundings were left cast in a heavy darkness that she was much less used to traversing.


    Shaking her head, she turned her COMP¡¯s light on as she once more checked where her drone had wandered off to.


    ¡°Looks like she¡¯s right around the corner¡­ and she¡¯s not moving. Good.¡± She nodded before continuing through the dark and abandoned hospital wing.


    (So, how much you guys wanna bet we¡¯re going to run into another ghost down here?) Her inner passion asked after a moment.


    She couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes. ¡°I doubt we¡¯re going to run into another Deadman. This is just¡­ generic spooky hospital stuff. Besides, even if we do find another one the ghost girl has left us alone so long as we stay out of her wing of the hospital.¡±


    (And what if we¡¯re stepping into a different Deadman¡¯s wing of the hospital?) Her inner madness argued, a sense of paranoia building as they walked deeper into the unexplored wing.


    (Statistically speaking the odds of a second Deadman being here is less than one in a million, given the odds of someone actually becoming a Deadman in the first place.) Her inner reason pointed out. (And that¡¯s before we get into their cannibalistic habits.)


    ¡°Yeah, see nothing to worry about.¡± She nodded, shining her COMP light around as she tried to spot her drone hiding amongst the rubble.


    (Relying on statistics is bullshit.) Her inner passion warned. (I mean seriously, statistically speaking, we shouldn¡¯t be able )


    ¡°That just means that we¡¯re the one in a mill- There you are!¡± She called, immediately jumping trains of thought as she spotted DM-2 cowering amongst the rubble. ¡°Do you have any idea how worried I was?!¡±


    (Not at all.)


    (Shut up!) She mentally scolded herself as she picked up DM-2 and held the cold unfeeling drone close to her chest. ¡°Don¡¯t run off like that again you understand me chica!¡±


    (Gah, you¡¯re starting to sound like mam¨¢.)


    (I told you to zip it missy!)


    (See!)


    Shaking her head she turned back to DM-2 taking note of how the little drone¡¯s freshly buffed metal was already scuffed all over, (and look at this red gunk she got all over herself.)


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to scrub you down when we get back to the lab, I mean what even is this stuff? Almost looks like¡­¡± She trailed off feeling the familiar crimson consistency on her fingers.


    (Ah look, violence is her fear response!) Her inner madness cooed, as she wiped the blood off on a wall.


    ¡°Don¡¯t encourage-¡± She jumped pulling her hand away from the wall and into the light of her COMP.


    (Oh dear.)


    (The fuck.)


    She couldn¡¯t help but match the voices¡¯ verbal grimaces, as she caught sight of her hand somehow covered in even more blood than before. ¡°What the hell?¡±


    DM-2 made an odd sound Maya didn¡¯t think the drone capable of as she began to shake even more in her arms.


    Swallowing down her apprehension she turned her COMP to the hospital wall and noted quite promptly that it was bleeding from every little chip and crack in its surface. An event that she quickly realized was occurring with every wall around her.


    (I¡­ I honestly can¡¯t tell if this is better or worse than another ghost¡­)


    ¡°Mm-hmm.¡± She whimpered before immediately turning back towards the wing entrance and running. ¡°Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope!¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -New Quest: Hospital Hell: Figure out what the hell is going on with the Alchemilla wing.


    A/N: Just going to point out that to change bases costs a full turn, abandons all base upgrades, and costs us 20 Scrap and 20 Electronics to set up said base.


    P.S. Google Alchemilla Hospital. (If you dare.)

 Turn 47

    Turn 47


    --- Maya ---


    (Okay, so what exactly can our LCMs eat?) Her inner passion asked. (Because if I¡¯m being honest I wasn¡¯t paying attention the last time we set their food out.)


    ¡°They¡¯re omnivores.¡± She reminded herself, gritting her teeth at the reminder that even the voices in her head tended to ignore her. ¡°Thanks to their rat DNA they¡¯re pretty much omnivorous, so they¡¯ll eat just about anything.¡±


    (Though it should be noted that due to domestication and base inheritance  they will likely prefer an herbivorous diet if we removed their opportunistic tendencies.) Her inner reason added as an extra layer to her explanation.


    ¡°Huh.¡± She blinked, stopping as she stumbled into a small forest clearing. A clearing filled with plants nearly thrice the size of the rest of the forest, as well as giant slash marks across several of the nearby trees.


    (What the hell happened here?)


    (Looks like a Deviant was playing around with their powers.) Her inner logic reasoned out.


    ¡°Wonder what kind it was?¡± She mumbled, before spotting a berry bush with a number of overgrown berries in it. ¡°And there¡¯s the LCMs¡¯ lunch. I mean I doubt whoever¡¯s responsible for this clearing will care if we swipe some of these.¡±


    (This seems like an ill advised choice of action¡­)


    (Yes! Steal the magical berries from the unknown Deviant!) Her inner madness encouraged. (Maybe we can figure out something about magic by dissecting them alive!)


    ¡°Hmm,¡± She raised her hands in front of her before staring at her left. ¡°Possibly angering an unknown Deviant.¡± She turned to her right. ¡°Possibly learning more about the science behind an unknown Deviancy.¡±


    She weighed the two options for a moment, before taking every visible berry on the plant.


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (D6 = 5) Organics


    -Added ¡®Odd Berries¡¯ to inventory.


    ---


    ¡°It¡¯s good to see you too DM-1!¡± She greeted her little drone as he rushed out of his hiding spot and ran happy little circles around her legs. ¡°Now let¡¯s gather up what scrap you¡¯ve managed to collect, I¡¯ve got a surprise for you once we get back to the lab!¡±


    DM-1 did his excited little drone dance before skittering off, knowing she¡¯d be able to follow him.


    Scene Consequences


    -Collected DM-1


    -DM-1 spent 3 Turns gathering Scrap at night with his new tools, and gathered (3 Turns * 1 (Nights only) * 1 Minion * 2 (Work Upgrades) = 6)


    ---


    (You know, you¡¯d think we¡¯d want to stay away from the hell hospital.) Her inner madness commented drily. (But I guess Ms. Survival Instincts is slacking on the job!)


    (You¡¯re being overdramatic.) Said instincts pointed out even drier. (In all likelihood we¡¯re under no real threat given how we¡¯ve been here weeks without trouble, save when we wander into the other wings.)


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    (So what, we¡¯re just going to sit around until the pinche demon ghosts attack?)


    ¡°No, we¡¯ll deal with it eventually, it¡¯s just that there¡¯s nothing we can really do about it without abandoning all of our work.¡± She explained as much to herself as¡­ to herself.


    She shook her head, as she stepped into her lab and slung her backpack off her back. ¡°We¡¯re home DM-1.¡±


    The little drone peeked out of her backpack before climbing out and looking around the lab. Upon spotting the LCMs raised a mechanical leg to wave at the two before getting a wave back in return.


    She couldn¡¯t help but smile at the sight of her minions getting along, but at the same time  she also couldn¡¯t help but notice someone missing from the scene. (Where¡¯d DM-2 get to?)


    Her gaze drifted around the lab before noticing a camera peeking out of a cabinet on the other side of the room. (Ah, she¡¯s being shy!)


    ¡°Come on little one, no need to be shy.¡± She told the shy drone as she opened the cabinet.


    DM-2 shook her head as the shy drone creeped further into the back of the cabinet.


    ¡°Ay pobrecita!¡± She cooed picking the drone up. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be scared of, we¡¯re just introducing you to your big hermano.¡±


    This did very little to calm the shaking drone as Maya walked back to DM-1 who was watching her curiously.


    ¡°DM-1 this is your little sister, DM-2.¡± She introduced her older drone to his younger sibling. ¡°It¡¯s your job to teach her all the ins and outs of being a proper drone minion okay?¡±


    The moment she set DM-2 on the ground the shy little drone froze staring at her older counterpart who was staring right back at her with an equal intensity. The two drones spent nearly a solid minute like this before eventually DM-1 reached one of his legs out and patted DM-2 on the head.


    Scene Consequences


    -Drone Minions can now be deployed together for better efficiency when performing tasks.


    ---


    While DM-1 helped DM-2 adjust to life as a drone minion, she gathered the LCMs and took them to her lab table where she handed each of them one of the berries she¡¯d collected earlier.


    (Is it really wise to be feeding our minions an unknown mutated plant?)


    (Meh, they¡¯re super blueberries and the LCMs are immune to most organic poisons.) Her inner madness dismissed, while bringing up a detail she hadn¡¯t even known about the LCMs.


    (Guess I don¡¯t have to be quite as stingy about what I feed these little guys.)


    ¡°Actually, since we¡¯re on the topic of feeding our minions¡­ We really should think about building something to keep them fed even when we aren¡¯t here.¡± She told herself, noting how the LCMs seemed to tear into their food. ¡°I mean I think they finished that stuff I left them yesterday, which is why they¡¯re so hungry.¡±


    (Pretty sure I¡¯m the one who brought that up like a week ago.) Her inner passion pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah, well¡­ you¡¯re me so I can claim your ideas as my own.¡± She told herself, before getting out a few bits of electronics and metal. ¡°So¡­ setting up a simple feeder actually seems kind of boring, now that I think about it.¡±


    (Because this is your first time thinking about it!)


    ¡°What if we rigged a simple bio-pod to feed them a flavored vitamin slush?¡± She asked herself, listening to the various ideas the whispers were offering her. ¡°That way this won¡¯t just be limited to feeding just the LCMs, but any little critters we make.¡±


    (We may even be able to¡­ modify their food intact with some of our experiments.) Her inner reason added, taking their bio-experimentation to its logical conclusion.


    (Oi, I¡¯m the sociopathic one here chica!) Her inner madness shouted. (You don¡¯t see me trying to steal your schtick, so don¡¯t go messing with mine!)


    ¡°Yeah, what the f-¡± She coughed, noticing her little critters watching her. ¡°-rack?¡±


    (That¡¯s not an experiment for tomorrow.) Her inner reason replied with a roll of their mind¡¯s eye. (Just something to consider once we have a good enough understanding of genetics to offer them an¡­ upgrade of sorts.)


    (Still sounding ominously amoral there.)


    (Mm, morality is subjective.)


    (Come on, that¡¯s even worse!)


    Scene Consequences


    -All small sized minions shall automatically be fed each week regardless of Maya¡¯s input.


    -When feeding small sized minions Organics will no longer round to the next whole number.


    -Thanks to LCMs 1 Electronic refunded.

 Turn 48

    Turn 48


    --- Maya ---


    Given how she now knew she shared her lab location with both a Deadman and (whatever the fuck is sitting in the Alchemilla wing) she decided that her priority for the day would be upgrading her lab¡¯s defenses something that would require a sizable amount of Scrap.


    Which is why for the fourth time in the last week, she found herself searching through the trainyard for as much scrap as she could manage.


    ¡°We¡¯re really going to be testing the Grav-Pack today.¡± She groaned, throwing another slab of metal into said M.A.D. tech backpack.


    (And our pain tolerance, with all of the back pain we¡¯re going to be giving ourselves.)


    ¡°The whole point of an anti-gravity backpack is to avoid back pain.¡± She reminded herself.


    (Which doesn¡¯t necessarily work when you carry enough weight to cancel said effect.) Herself reminded her right back.


    (Yeah, I get that you were trying to be witty there, but that was just bad grammar.)


    (Apologies, it sounded good until I actually said it.)


    ¡°Either way if we want to start turning our lab into a proper fortress we¡¯re going to need a fair bit of scrap.¡± She told herself, grabbing even more metal than she could usually manage in a single trip, she ended up pushing her Grav-Pack to its absolute limits as the backpack portion of the pack was beginning to stretch its seams.


    Taking a moment to catch her breath she couldn¡¯t help but notice this little detail, and in similar fashion couldn¡¯t help but admit, ¡°The trip to the lab is going to suck.¡±


    (Warned you.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gather (2D6 = 10) Scrap


    ---


    ¡°Alright, that should do it for the windows.¡± She told her minions as they helped her hold the shutter frame in place.


    Cautiously -and not wanting a repeat of the last three times they¡¯d dropped it- DM-1 and DM-2 let go of the shutter frame before skittering several feet away, in case it fell (again).


    ¡°Look how was I supposed to know the window frame couldn¡¯t handle that much weight?¡± She asked her snarkier self as she gave the shutters a few careful taps.


    (Because you had to use the COMP to lift them?)


    ¡°Well¡­ that just threw off my calculations for the whole thing.¡± She argued.


    (Meaning you got your math wrong?)


    ¡°Bullshit!¡± She growled at the voice in her head. ¡°I never get my math wrong you excess thought process backlog of an overactive imagination!¡±


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    (Okay! Sheesh, no need to go to the mad place!) Her inner passion defended.


    Shaking her head at the sudden bout of anger, she turned her attention over to her LCMs who she¡¯d shown how to set up the switch that slam the shutters shut on both the door and windows to her lab.


    ¡°How¡¯s the wiring coming boys?¡±


    1A gave her a thumbs up while wearing the little goggles she¡¯d made her two organic minions in case of a lab accident, (such as the one 1B was currently in the middle of.)


    (Wait, what?!) Her eyes snapped to her other little critter just in time to watch 1B shoot away from the electronic bits.


    ¡°Oh shit!¡± She cursed, rushing to her downed minion. ¡°1B are you okay?!¡±


    The little critter sat up woozily before giving her a shaky thumbs up and promptly falling on his back.


    (Eh, he¡¯s fine.)


    ¡°No he¡¯s not!¡± She cried picking her little critter up.


    (Yes he is.) Her inner madness sighed in exasperation. (That jump was a reflexive response caused by an instinctive adrenal overload upon sensing a nearby disturbance that could result in bodily harm. Ergo he was not actually hurt in any way, he¡¯s just suffering from an extreme adrenaline crash.)


    She blinked.


    ¡°I¡­¡± She felt the need to blink again. ¡°How¡­ how many hidden perks did we give these two?¡±


    (Uh, if they¡¯re hidden perks how am I supposed to know?) Her inner passion scoffed.


    ¡°But you¡­ you just explained what happened with the whole¡­ reflexive adrenal¡­ system thing!¡± She pointed out, calling her other self out on her bullshit.


    (Adrenal what now?)


    ¡°But¡­ but¡­¡± She ran her hands through her hair before finally giving up and letting out a cry of frustration.


    (What¡¯s her problem?)


    Scene Consequences


    -Lab Defenses are now available for development.


    --In case of emergency Maya can hold up in her Panic Room, making it so any attackers trying to get in have to get through her Defenses first.


    --Thanks to Crit and Minion Assist 11 Scrap refunded.


    ---


    Having reached a point of just being done with the voices in her head, as well as having finished setting up the necessary upgrades to turn her lab into a panic room, she decided to make a more recreational upgrade to her minions for fun.


    Which is how she found herself getting lost in hours of coding as she figured out the best way to grant an adaptive AI the ability of speech. Something that on paper sounded relatively easy given how all it should require is teaching her little drones how to pick and choose the appropriate recordings for a specific idea, or perhaps just setting up a simple text-to-speech drive.


    Unfortunately, as she was coming to learn the whispers -as well as the voices in her head- liked to slip all sorts of fun little secrets into her programming that she was largely unaware of until she reached the point of needing to modify said program.


    In this case, she discovered that while her minions were capable of understanding what she said, they weren¡¯t actually understanding what she said, so much as how she said it. Instead of understanding her words her minions would instead pay attention to the tone of her voice, the pacing of her words, as well as her physical gestures to determine a rough approximation of what she was saying and then apply it to the most similar definition listed in their protocols.


    Put into the simplest of terms, she was essentially the only human being they were capable of understanding.


    Meaning that in order to give her minions the most basic form of speech possible, she had to go through and physically write out the definition of every word they might use in a way that made sense to her mechanically minded minions, while also accounting for the fact that they didn¡¯t actually know any words.


    A task that was as time consuming as it was tedious.


    (Well, I did want something mindless to relax with¡­) She sighed, already feeling a crick forming in her neck.


    Scene Consequences


    -Drone Minion Protocols: Speech Upgrade progress (1/2).

 Turn 49

    Turn 49


    --- Maya ---


    Maya stared at Izzy as she got ready for school.


    After several minutes of this Izzy eventually sighed. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll bite. What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m figuring out how to make you forgive me.¡± She admitted seeing no reason not to.


    ¡°Have you hurt yourself in the last two weeks?¡± Izzy asked in a bored tone.


    ¡°No¡± (more than my usually klutzy self.)


    ¡°Then you¡¯re forgiven.¡± Izzy told her.


    ¡°What? No.¡± She found herself frowning. ¡°That¡¯s not how that works.¡±


    Izzy rolled her eyes. ¡°Am I really one to hold a grudge?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a Williams and mam¨¢¡¯s daughter.¡± She pointed out dryly.


    ¡°Against family.¡± Izzy tacked on with another -more pronounced- roll of her eyes.


    ¡°...¡± She narrowed her eyes in thought before shaking her head. ¡°No.¡±


    Izzy blinked. ¡°No?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not real forgiveness. So I don¡¯t accept it.¡± Maya explained to her little sister.


    The middle schooler pinched the bridge of her nose as if she didn¡¯t understand, before finally sighing and saying, ¡°What.¡±


    ¡°I really upset you, so that means I have to do something to make it up to you.¡± She elaborated.


    ¡°Such as not hurting yourself?¡± Izzy offered.


    ¡°No. That¡¯s the easy way out.¡± She dismissed with a wave of her hand. ¡°If I¡¯m going to get you to forgive me then I¡¯m going to make sure you really forgive me.¡±


    (Whether you like it or not.) Her inner passion agreed.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s not how that works.¡± Izzy told her, much in the same way she¡¯d just told the middle schooler the same.


    (Which means one of our ways is right, and given how we¡¯re smarter, that means it¡¯s automatically ours.) Her inner madness assured her.


    (That¡¯s¡­ You do realize that¡¯s not how that works at all, right?) Her inner


    (My previous argument stands since I¡¯m smarter than you.)


    (But we¡¯re the same person.)


    (But I¡¯m agreeing with Maya, which makes me the smarter sign of insanity, doesn¡¯t it Maya?)


    (Yes, yes it does.)


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, big sis is going to make it all up to you.¡± She promised.


    (Yeah, we are going to make you forgive us so hard.)


    Izzy seemed to shiver. ¡°Uh, Maya, I don¡¯t like that look you¡¯re giving me.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya has begun to force Izzy to forgive her.


    ---


    Given how she had a bit of time between classes, and the fact that she had a mind numbing amount of monotonous work to do, Maya spent this time filling in a few more entries into her drone language directory.


    Or this was the plan until she heard a familiar voice causing trouble again.


    (This bitch is not messing with one of our waifus!) Her inner madness challenged.


    (It seems she is.) Her inner logic commented tersely as they saw several girls surrounding Aisha in one of the emptier halls.


    (She isn¡¯t one of our-)


    ¡°You see this is why you don¡¯t have any friends.¡± Salvador laughed as Aisha backed herself into a corner.


    (You know what nevermind.)


    ¡°Seriously Nyssa, you¡¯re pulling this shit again?¡± She found herself asking, as she forced her way between Aisha and her bullies. ¡°I thought Ying and I told you to back off!¡±


    ¡°Oh, right I almost forgot you took the nerd under your wing.¡± Nyssa scoffed, crossing her arms as she inspected the nails on one of her hands. ¡°Then again I suppose this is what they mean by a ¡®rat pack¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Better a hood rat, than a rich bitch.¡± She shot back. ¡°Especially one that needs to tear others down to feel good about themselves.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t need to tear others down, I just need to look at you and immediately remember how good I¡¯ve got it.¡± Nyssa admitted.


    ¡°Then if you feel so good about yourself why can¡¯t you just leave Aisha alone?¡± She pressed taking a step forward.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear me?¡± Nyssa rolled her eyes. ¡°I said I don¡¯t need to tear others to feel good about myself. Not that it doesn¡¯t serve a purpose.¡±


    ¡°What purpose can driving someone else to tears possibly serve?¡± She wondered aloud in sheer disbelief.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you supposed to be a genius of some kind?¡± Nyssa asked. ¡°Figure it out. I mean given how you¡¯ve latched onto Zhang I¡¯d thought you already had.¡±


    ¡°Figured out what, that you¡¯re a bitch?¡±


    ¡°No, how the real world works.¡± Nyssa told her plainly.


    ¡°And how -in your twisted world view- do you think the world works?¡± She had to ask.


    Nyssa stared at her for a moment before smirking. ¡°We both know Ying is the one in charge of your little duo, so anything I say here will be wasted. After all, while I may be a bitch, at least I¡¯m not someone else¡¯s.¡±


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°The fuck is that supposed to mean?!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re smart, you¡¯ll figure out.¡± Nyssa assured her before walking away.


    ¡°Hey, wait, you-argh!¡± She growled in frustration, knowing that she lost that argument but not really understanding how.


    (Stupid rich socialites and their stupid fancy speak!)


    ¡°Fuck!¡± She cursed more for the sake of doing it than anything else.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± A timid voice called from behind her.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± She turned towards Aisha before blinking. ¡°What, oh, no! You have nothing to apologize for!¡±


    ¡°But you had to step in and save me again.¡± Aisha argued.


    ¡°Well duh.¡± She snorted. ¡°That¡¯s what friends do.¡±


    ¡°But you shouldn¡¯t have to solve my problems!¡± The other girl cried.


    ¡°I¡¯m not, otherwise Nyssa wouldn¡¯t be bullying you.¡± She pointed out. ¡°But since I don¡¯t actually know how to solve your problem,¡± (without gratuitous levels of violence) ¡°I¡¯m going to have to settle for backing you up.¡±


    ¡°But I¡­¡± Aisha looked down.


    She couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes. ¡°Look, you figure out how to deal with Nyssa and I¡¯ll help you with that. Until then I¡¯ll run interference, because either way I¡¯ve got your back. And if that¡¯s a problem, well¡­ It¡¯s your problem and you just told me not to solve those for you.¡±


    Aisha blinked. ¡°I-I¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to call me captain, but we should get moving before the bell rings.¡± She told the other girl, taking her arm and dragging her along before she could put up anymore protest. (After all friends have each others¡¯ backs whether they like it or not.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to Aisha.


    ---


    ¡°So how was school?¡± Vi asked, picking her up instead of their mam¨¢ since she had the day off from college.


    ¡°Eh, same old, same old.¡± She shrugged.


    ¡°Mm-hmm¡­¡± Vi nodded with a look that said she didn¡¯t believe her but was willing to let it go for now. ¡°So, we heading home, or did you want me to drop you off somewhere?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re offering?¡± She checked with a bit of surprise.


    ¡°Sure, I mean odds are you¡¯re going to run off to do your own thing as soon as we get home anyway.¡± Vi pointed out in that way that wasn¡¯t quite criticizing her but close. ¡°Figure I might as well save you a trip.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well um¡­¡± She mumbled for a minute before pointing towards a nearby road. ¡°In that case you¡¯ll want to take a turn that way.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    It took them another half hour or so of Maya giving directions, but eventually they pulled up in front of the old hospital she¡¯d converted into her base.


    (Are you sure it¡¯s wise to show Vi our base?) Her inner logic queried. (We have an amount of evidence here we¡¯d rather she not see.)


    (Meh, she already knows we¡¯re an M.A.D. so letting her know where we keep everything isn¡¯t going to hurt us too badly.) She dismissed herself.


    (This is so going to bite us in the ass.) Her inner madness giggled.


    ¡°Uh, I thought you said you were part of that M.A.D. club thing, isn¡¯t this that old hospital?¡± Vi asked her with an audible concern. ¡°I looked them up a bit and they didn¡¯t mention anything about this place.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve been coming here since before I joined the club.¡± She admitted. ¡°And some of the stuff is hard to move so I sort of go back and forth between here and there.¡±


    ¡°And this place is¡­ safe, right?¡± Vi asked with a grimace.


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°I¡¯ve been coming here for like a month now, there¡¯s nothing to worry about.¡± (As long as you ignore the ghosts and demon hallways.)


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Vi trailed off with a concerned look towards the hospital. ¡°So uh, what kind of stuff do you have here, that you can¡¯t move?¡±


    ¡°Mm, oh!¡± She thought about it for a moment before beginning to bounce in her seat. ¡°Wait here just a moment!¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ I¡¯ll just wait here outside of the murder hospital while you run in real quick.¡±


    ¡°Great!¡± She cheered before rushing inside for what was arguable her cutest invention(s), and returning a few minutes later.


    ¡°You know I was kind of joking when I told you to go inside.¡± Vi chuckled warily, having been waiting in the hospital lobby for her.


    ¡°Oh, well¡­ Oops?¡± She shrugged, before shaking her head and reaching into her pocket. ¡°Still you wanted to meet one of my inventions right?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± Vi nodded, sounding mildly confused about something.


    ¡°Then I present to the LCMs!¡±


    She held the two little critters out, causing them to glance around curiously before finally noticing Vi. 1A immediately proceeded to begin straightening out his fur, while 1B simply waved in his standard and friendly way.


    Vi seemed to turn a shade paler for some reason. ¡°You, uh, you made these little guys? How?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I made this little artificial pod thing that I can grow stuff in.¡± She explained. ¡°Originally I only meant to grow one but I let them cook a little too long and ended up with twins.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh, and what exactly do these two¡­ do?¡± Vi asked, her voice taking on an odd pitch to it.


    ¡°They help me build my other inventions.¡± She answered petting her two LCMs.


    ¡°They¡­¡± Vi swallowed. ¡°They help you build¡­ other inventions?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Vi nodded, before walking away. ¡°I¡¯m going to need a minute.¡±


    ¡°Uh, everything okay?¡± She asked with a bit of concern.


    ¡°Just peachy.¡± Vi squeaked.


    (Huh¡­ I wonder what¡¯s wrong?)


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to Vi.


    ---


    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want me to give you a lift home?¡± Vi asked, her voice no longer doing that weird pitching thing. ¡°I don¡¯t mind sitting around for a little while.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure, there¡¯s something I¡¯ve got to finish up inside.¡± She told her sister, waving away the offer. ¡°I¡¯ll be home in time for dinner at the latest.¡±


    ¡°Fine, I guess¡­¡± Vi sighed, before giving her a look. ¡°Just keep your phone on and call if anything happens.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry I¡¯ll be fine.¡± (As long as I don¡¯t pick a fight with the ghost in the basement.)


    Vi gave her one more sigh before driving off and leaving her free to take the LCMs back to her lab so they could see just how well her newest program works.


    Now while she had succeeded in completing her language program, due to the complexity of setting up a language it hadn¡¯t gone quite to the scale she¡¯d been hoping for. For you see, while her drones were better capable of understanding her words and even saying them thanks to their newly installed voice speakers, they still lacked the ability to properly string together full sentences. Instead they could only piece together simple sentences consisting of two or three words, much how most toddlers would manage.


    ¡°You know, I¡¯m just realizing how hard it must be for toddlers to learn how to speak.¡± She admitted, unhooking the cables she¡¯d used to install the new programs onto her drones.


    (Well it does take most people years to be able to say their first word, and years more to say their first coherent sentence.) Her inner reason admitted.


    (Which means our babies are going to be all the smarter having figured it out in just a month.) Her inner madness cackled.


    ¡°Of course, we made them after all.¡± She agreed as DM-1 and 2 blinked into life once more. ¡°Okay, you two should be able to speak now. These are going to be your first words so I want you to think really hard about just what you two want to say, and say it.¡±


    Both of her little drones nodded, then took a moment to process before DM-1 glanced at the LCMs and glanced back at her. There was a muffled sound from his speakers as he figured out how to work them properly, before raising two of his legs in the air and declaring. ¡°I favorite minion!¡±


    (Pfft! This arrogant!) Her inner passion broke down laughing, as even Maya was unable to keep a smile off of her face at her first minion¡¯s declaration.


    A declaration that 1A seemed to take some offense to if the way the little critter was chittering aggressively meant anything.


    (It looks like sibling rivalries are going to be a thing.) Her inner logic observed with a dry sort of amusement.


    ¡°Eh, it was inevitable.¡± She shrugged, knowing all about sibling dynamics after being the middle child of five.


    A tugging at her leg broke her out of her musings, and made her look down at DM-2 pawing at her pants, drawing a smile out of her as she looked at her youngest minion. ¡°So we¡¯ve heard what DM-1¡¯s first words are, now what are yours going to be, sweetie?¡±


    DM-2 seemed to process her questions before looking up at Maya and happily chirping. ¡°Mama!¡±

 Turn 50

    Turn 50


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Okay, so what¡¯s this favor you were asking me about?¡± She asked, Kim as the other girl finally showed up to her clubroom.


    ¡°Right, uh, sorry about being late.¡± Kim apologized, before shaking her head. ¡°Anyway, here¡¯s the thing, I think I told you about the tours the M.A.D. club do to keep this place running right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± She nodded. ¡°You want me to help you with one or something?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sort of.¡± Kim corrected herself. ¡°The thing is things are starting to get a bit hectic on my side of things and I was kind of hoping you wouldn¡¯t mind covering a few of my shifts for me.¡±


    ¡°Shifts,¡± She blinked. ¡°Do you mean like, you have an actual job working here?¡±


    ¡°Again, sort of.¡± Kim answered. ¡°Most of the members are free to volunteer to help out with the tours whenever they want, but since I have all of my little critters living here, I¡¯ve got a deal doing tours in exchange for the extra costs of keeping them all here.¡±


    ¡°But I thought you had that deal with the pet store to sell them?¡± She frowned. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you be making a decent amount of money from that.¡±


    ¡°That depends¡­¡± Kim grimaced. ¡°On a good month I¡¯ll make a decent amount but on a bad one I might actually take losses. And at the same time because I want to take care of my critters I make the people who want one go through this whole interview process, which cuts into it more, and there¡¯s the stuff with keeping everything licensed and it-it¡¯s a whole thing really.¡±


    (Ugh, sounds boring and painful.) Her inner child cringed.


    (Adulthood often is.) Her inner reason agreed.


    ¡°So you just need me to help give tours so they¡¯ll let you keep your critters here?¡± She asked, not wanting to touch that existential crisis just yet.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s not like they¡¯ll just throw them out, it¡¯s just¡­¡± Kim shook her head before sighing. ¡°I don¡¯t feel right leaving them here when I¡¯m not helping out around the club, and do so so regularly that they¡¯ve got me scheduled on days they know I can cover it.¡±


    ¡°Only you can¡¯t cover it, so you need me to.¡± She corrected the other teen.


    Kim winced, before giving her a reluctant nod. ¡°Yeah, I do. But if you cover me, you can take whatever the club would¡¯ve paid me on those tours.¡±


    ¡°But I thought you needed that money to cover club expenses?¡± She frowned getting a little mixed up.


    ¡°Not quite. Like I said the club won¡¯t just throw out my minions, but they could also lose a fair bit of money if they have to close down on the days I was working, meaning I need someone to cover those shifts for me.¡± Kim explained.


    ¡°Right¡­ well it can¡¯t hurt for me to cover one or two of them, I mean when I first signed up you mentioned something about that anyway.¡± She reminded the other girl.


    ¡°I know but I wasn¡¯t expecting this kind of thing to pop up for a few more months.¡± Kim admitted. ¡°And even then it would¡¯ve been more you signing up for it then me having to ask you for help with the tours.¡±


    ¡°Well yeah, but I was probably going to end up volunteering for a few anyway.¡± She shrugged. ¡°I mean who knows maybe I¡¯ll even learn something myself.¡± (If the club M.A.D.s are really all that.)


    ¡°Maybe.¡± Kim agreed with a smile. ¡°Well if you¡¯re going to be covering for me I might as well show you the ropes a bit while I¡¯ve got you here.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to Kim.


    -Can now help with tours on weekends. (Turns Ending With: 0, 1, 5, 6)


    --Tours offer money based on (random M.A.D. skill¡¯s rank * D6 + total M.A.D. Level) with the crits offering bonus XP to the skill in question.


    ---


    Once Kim had finished showing her the basics of running the tours for the M.A.D. club, she asked if she could borrow some of the other teen¡¯s equipment to inspect this weird flower she had a ¡®feeling¡¯ about since she lacked her own version of said equipment.


    ¡°Sure, just be sure to clean up on your way out.¡± Kim told her, as she made her way towards the exit of her club room.


    ¡°Got it thanks.¡± Maya nodded back before loading the magic berries onto a bit of equipment the whispers were telling her how to use.


    ¡°Kind of surprised they know how to use stuff like this.¡± She couldn¡¯t help but comment as she mashed one of the berries into a paste, not really bothering to keep her mental conversations to herself now that she was more or less alone.


    (Really that''s what breaks your suspension of disbelief?) Her inner passion asked with her own disbelief. (Not any of the other bullshit we¡¯ve gotten our hands on or made?)


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°No, I mean I can¡¯t name half of this stuff and the whispers are telling me exactly how to use all of it without any learning curve.¡± She tried explaining. ¡°And no this isn¡¯t like our other tools, I mean you need a computer to run half of this shit.¡±


    (It is a little odd, but the whispers seem to know a lot of things they shouldn¡¯t.) Her inner reason pointed out. (Perhaps this is just another one such incident?)


    ¡°Maybe¡­ but it¡¯s still pretty weird.¡± She sighed, once more curious about the whispers but also once more lacking any information about them beyond the fact that the better an M.A.D. could understand them the more powerful said M.A.D. was by their deviancy¡¯s standards.


    (How about we focus on something we are capable of understanding at the moment?) Her inner logic suggested. (Have you learned anything interesting about these magically enhanced berries?)


    ¡°Uh, yes¡­ but not as much as I¡¯d like.¡± She admitted reading over the information being provided by Kim¡¯s equipment while also keeping an ear out for the mysterious whispers inside her mind. ¡°Okay, it seems like berries have this thing where the more water they have access to the bigger they grow.¡±


    (A trait shared with a fair portion of the flora kingdom.) Her inner reason reminded her.


    ¡°I know, I know, but the interesting part is the fact that whatever energy the -I hate calling it this- magic was manipulating, took advantage of this and provided a substitute for water and nutrients to facilitate this growth before¡­ doing something to accelerate said growth.¡± She said, explaining what she could understand before frowning as she realized the bigger secrets were beyond her. (For now¡­)


    (Alright, that¡¯s cool and all but is there anything we can do with that information?) Her inner passion asked in a bored tone.


    ¡°Well, while we lack the equipment right now, with a few modifications to our biology interface program we could take advantage of this little function ourselves to increase the crop yield of our bio-pod projects.¡± She told herself, listening to some of the whispers suggestions to the ideas currently flowing through her mind.


    (Well, that sounds like something we¡¯re going to have to get to work on at some point.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1XP to Biology


    --Currently: Lv. 2 (2/6)


    -Unlocked ¡®Enhance Crop Growth (I)¡¯ as a Splice for Plants.


    --Growth Enhancer: Increases the potential size of plants allowing for a greater harvest on collection of crop-based projects.


    --Biology Interface must be improved to apply this Mutation.


    ---


    ¡°Alright hermano, you know you¡¯re starting to get creepy with this whole ¡®drawing your mystery girl¡¯ thing.¡± She told her elder brother as she once more found herself sharing the kitchen table with him as he still tried to draw the girl from nearly two weeks ago.


    ¡°I know it¡¯s just¡­¡± Tommy sighed while rubbing at his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s this whole thing. Sort of like my whole creative flow is out of whack until I get this done, you know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah I do.¡± Whenever she started one of her more physical projects that was how things usually went, her mind -(and the whispers)- refusing to let her focus on anything else until she gets it done.


    (Well that may be the case with me but Tommy isn¡¯t an M.A.D. so he shouldn¡¯t have this whole project obsession he¡¯s got going on.) She reminded herself.


    ¡°Hey, maybe all you need is something to help break your mind out of this artistic rut.¡± She suggested with a clap of her hands.


    ¡°And what did you have in mind?¡± Tommy asked with a hint of amusement.


    ¡°Well how good are you at working with clay?¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -With Tommy¡¯s help gained 4XP to Art.


    --Currently: Lv. 3 (7/8)


    ---


    ¡°Now then, 1A, 1B it has recently come to my attention that in my fit of creative genius I may have slipped a few hidden sequences into your DNA when I grew the two of you.¡± She told her two LCMs as 1A watched her with an intense focus while 1B watched her¡­ with a much less intense focus. ¡°What this means is that while I¡¯m aware of a few of your special abilities such as your poison resistance and your adrenal overload. That said, I¡¯m curious if the two of you are aware of any other abilities you may possess?¡±


    1B blinked not quite understanding what she was talking about.


    1A on the other hand seemed deep in thought about her question.


    (You are aware that while our LCMs are notably smarter than the common rodent, they also aren¡¯t more intelligent than most toddlers. Beyond what we¡¯ve shown them how to do at least.) Her inner logic reminded her.


    (Yeah, but 1A is smart, I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be able to figure something out and tell us about it.) Her inner madness argued.


    (What about 1B?) She asked herself with a frown.


    (We both know he''s not the brain of this duo.) Her inner darkside pointed out callously.


    ¡°He¡¯s smart, he¡¯s just a different kind of smart.¡± She defended, before a sudden movement caught her attention as 1A seemed to suddenly disappear. ¡°Uh, where did your brother disappear to?¡±


    1B raised a paw and pointed to the other side of the room, where upon looking she found 1A bouncing between several things like a pinball before tripping and skidding to a stop a short distance away.


    ¡°1A what happened?¡± She asked, picking the little critter up.


    The LCM in her hand began making a series of squeaking sounds that she couldn¡¯t quite decipher until after a moment a faint thump drew her attention to 1B as he began to run around much like how 1A had just a seconds prior.


    (Well, they may not have figured out anything new, but I¡¯m guessing they figured out how to trigger their adrenal overloads on command.) Her inner logic reasoned out.


    (So basically we have a pair of minions who can trigger a super sugar rush on command?)


    ¡°Why do I feel a certain sense of maternal dread?¡± She blinked before frowning. ¡°And why do I get the feeling mam¨¢ is laughing her ass off right now?¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to the LCMs.


    -LCMs can now purposefully trigger Adrenal Overload.


    --Adrenal Overload: Consumes all available Stamina to spike Speed and Agility by a proportional amount for a single action. If this unit is in danger and this ability can be triggered it automatically will be.


    -Minions now have their own party tab!

 Turn 51

    Turn 51


    --- Maya ---


    (It¡¯s easy, she said. All you have to do is keep the crowd together, she said. She didn¡¯t mention anything about this!) Her inner passion screamed, as she tried to keep a group of eight year olds from seeing the malfunctioning robot that had caught fire.


    ¡°I really don¡¯t think Kim was counting on this happening.¡± She hissed to herself, a little too stressed to remember to keep her conversations with herself silent around others.


    (Shit, you¡¯re right.) She grimaced as Carol came into the presentation area and began to hose the malfunctioning bot down with a fire extinguisher.


    ¡°Alright kids this is all part of the presentation on lab safety.¡± The club secretary lied. ¡°You see when things in the lab go wrong and fire starts you need to remember a very important detail about combustion. Fire needs to breathe oxygen, so if you can separate it from air in the same way this firefighting foam does then the fire will go out.¡±


    (Huh, nice save.)


    ¡°Now the foam in fire extinguishers covers the flames while preventing them from breathing, thus smothering the flames. What you need to be careful of there is the fact that other things you use might themselves be flammable which means they can catch fire and-¡±


    Carol paused as the malfunctioning robot lunged at her, before having it¡¯s head caved in with the bottom of a fire extinguisher.


    ¡°-don¡¯t forget that if you ever come across an actually dangerous machine, you¡¯ll want to attack it¡¯s head. The reason for this being that most M.A.D.s tend to place their robot¡¯s primary processing units in the head, so as to mimic the fact that people with brains keep theirs in their heads.¡± The club secretary continued as if this was all part of the show, even as her words made the M.A.D. responsible for this mess cower.


    (Very nice save.) She nodded appreciatively, taking notes on the rapid-fire bluffing.


    (And informative.) Her inner madness agreed, taking notes on the robot killing.


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained (2D6 +12 = 24) Dollars.


    --Thanks to Crit gained 1XP to Electronics.


    ---Currently: Lv. 5 (5/12)


    -Crit Bonus: For scoring a crit on the very first time we do this task, +1XP to Bluffing.


    --*Skill Level Up* Bluffing Lv. 3 (0/8)


    ---


    After the fiasco at the M.A.D. club she realized that her two mechanical minions were very much mortal.


    (As are our non-mechanical minions.)


    (Eh, we¡¯ll fix that later.)


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    So having come to this revelation she set out to make a few modifications to her minion protocols that would make it easier for her to back-up their data, or -as she was quick to discover- back it up at all.


    ¡°Why the hell didn¡¯t we make it so we could back up our minions?!¡± She screeched upon discovering that there was absolutely no data saving feature to be found within her minion protocols.


    (I believe it has something to do with the fact that we made these protocols before we realized our minions had personalities of their own.) Her inner logic supplied, with a touch of shame.


    ¡°This needs to be fixed.¡± She growled beginning to type so fast and so hard that she might damage her keyboard.


    (As if we give a fuck about that!) Her inner passion cried in fury. (We need to protect our babies!)


    Her first attempt at righting this grievous error was to attempt to back up her drone¡¯s memories, that way even if their bodies were destroyed they¡¯d still have their minds intact save a few hours prior to said destruction.


    Unfortunately this proved to be a frustrating deadend when it became apparent that while she could back-up their memories, she couldn¡¯t back up the connections those memories had to the self-modifying portions of her Drone Protocol.


    If she¡¯d relied on this method it would be as if her drones had the memories of their past selves but not their personalities, which would in turn make them functionally different drones than the ones she¡¯d come to love in her own way.


    ¡°And that is not good enough.¡± She snarled, before beginning to come at the problem from the opposite direction.


    (If I can¡¯t save their memories separate from their protocols, then I¡¯ll just have to keep everything separate when I store it on my servers.)


    On paper it was a simple idea, right up until one realized that thanks to the various intricacies of her various AIs¡¯ adaptivity storing two in the same server would cause them to interact and possibly even consume bits of each other so long as they existed on the same hardware.


    Which is why she had to go and apply a series of sub-protocols that would recognize other programs and keep her Drone AIs from trying to eat it like the innocently hungry children they were.


    (Well, innocent right up until they accidentally eat their siblings.) Her inner madness snarked, as they began to finish out the program. An event that left all of her feeling far more secure in the safety of her little Drones¡¯ mortality.


    ¡°Right, now I just need to let them install these updates and teach them how to use the base server¡¯s USB ports.¡± She sighed, feeling a certain weight falling from her shoulders as DM-1 and DM-2 downloaded their protocol updates.


    Scene Consequences


    -Drone Minion Protocols upgraded to V1.4.


    --If destroyed DM-1 and DM-2 will have a back up available for them.


    ---Each minion takes up Memory equal to Drone Protocols.


    ---Note: Will still have to spend resources to build them new bodies.


    ---


    ¡°Okay, please tell me I¡¯m not the only one who has noticed how odd Tommy has been acting these last couple of weeks.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not.¡± Vi admitted, watching their brother with a touch of concern. ¡°He¡¯s been drawing this girl for over two weeks now, and it¡¯s getting to a point where I¡¯m half convinced he¡¯s under a Slaver effect.¡±


    (Only half convinced?)


    ¡°What should we do?¡± She asked, dismissing that thought. ¡°I mean, this is the kind of thing we should tell mom and dad about, right? So they can get him help?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Vi sighed before nodding. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to them because this really is getting out of hand, and I¡¯m sure they¡¯ve noticed something is up, but I doubt they¡¯ve realized how bad it¡¯s getting.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She grimaced for a number of reasons. ¡°I¡¯ll check if there¡¯s any way to deal with Slaver effects outside of calling Sanctuary or a Hunter, if we¡¯re lucky we¡¯ll be able to snap him out of it ourselves.¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but even if we do break him out of¡­ whatever this is I¡¯d still prefer it if we had someone professional give him a once over.¡± Vi admitted before shaking her head. ¡°If we¡¯re lucky we¡¯re just blowing this whole artist mania thing out of proportion.¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± (Though I kind of doubt it myself.)


    Scene Consequences


    -New Quest: Artistic Obsession- Tommy has been getting increasingly obsessed with drawing this woman, find out what¡¯s happening and help him.

 Turn 52

    Turn 52


    --- Maya ---


    Finding herself unable to sleep, she rolled out of bed and grabbed her laptop before looking up everything she could about Slaver effects and how to snap her brother out of one.


    The first thing she learned -(disturbingly enough)- was that almost all Deviants beyond certain thresholds were capable of developing Slaver effects if they wanted.


    Psychics, most obviously, were capable of developing their Slaver effect from the get-go, however unlike media would have many believe they were not capable of instantly reaching in and brainwashing people to do their bidding. Instead the power involved them slowly manipulating a person¡¯s emotions until they felt what said psychic wanted them to feel from particular stimuli and reacted the way said psychic wanted.


    (Well hopefully that means we can write psychics off as responsible for this mess.)


    (Hopefully.)


    Scrolling down to the section on how to break as psychic¡¯s slaver effect, she couldn¡¯t help but grimace as she learned that, (the psychic¡¯s Slaver effect slowly becomes permanent and in-turn can take years to complete undo.)


    (That¡¯s¡­ not good¡­) Her inner passion admitted, unable to think of anything else to say.


    (Quite¡­)


    Shivering a bit, she moved on to the next effect belonging to Deadmen and more commonly referred to as possession or overshadowing. An effect that allowed certain Deadmen to temporarily wear a non-Deviant¡¯s body and use it as their own.


    (Which is ten different kinds of creepy.)


    (True.) Her inner reason agreed before more optimistically pointing out the fact that, (only more spectral Deadmen are capable of this, and it¡¯s fairly obvious when they¡¯re doing so due to having complete control of their host without any of the native mannerisms. And this is before considering the fact that the ¡®possessed¡¯s¡¯ eyes will glow green when the Deadman becomes emotional.)


    ¡°Well, I guess that means Tommy isn¡¯t ¡®possessed¡¯ at the very least¡­¡± Since she hadn¡¯t seen any green eyes, and he¡¯d been a little too on point with his reactions to be someone faking them.


    Still to be safe she looked up how the effect was cancelled, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the effect could at most last a few hours since the body jacker would be burning through their energy supply the entire time they were possessing someone, and unlike other Deviancies Deadmen needed their power source to live. (If you want to call it that.)


    The next most common Slaver effect to come across belonged to Slashers, (or a sub-type of them anyway), that worked as a form of super persuasion and functioned similarly enough in the fact that people could resist it and be simply talked out of whatever effect they were under, (if with some difficulty dependent on just how persuasive the Slasher in question had been.)


    (Funny how the scariest Deviancy has the easiest effect to break.) Her inner passion laughed in a way that didn¡¯t carry much amusement.


    (Hopefully the rest are that easy to break.) She told herself, purposefully skipping over the part about just how some Slashers used this super persuasion as a kill method.


    The next one wasn¡¯t.


    Certain Arcane who delved into mind magics could apparently develop a way of forcibly overwhelming a person and essentially puppeting their body. An ability responsible for the fact that the Arcane Association -a powerful advocate for magic development, teaching, and transparency- kept the concept and its spells highly restricted beyond a few calming effects that had been approved by Sanctuary and the Heroes¡¯ Guild both.


    (Meaning if it is this kind of effect it might just be beyond our pay grade¡­) She frowned.


    (Does that mean you¡¯re going to back off if it is?) Her inner madness growled.


    (Fuck no.) She snarled back, reading the section on how the easiest way to shatter these effects was to capture the Arcane responsible, and let a professional break the bond from there.


    (So we¡¯d have to hunt down whoever went after Tommy in that case.) Her inner passion figured as the whispers offered several tracking ideas.


    (Or we hire a hunter to hunt them down and help Tommy.) Her inner reason told them. (We might want to deal with this ourselves but we don¡¯t want to go in half-cocked and make things worse. What¡¯s more that is the route our parents are liable to take if they don¡¯t involve Sanctuary or the Heroes¡¯ Guild.)


    (Maybe¡­) She admitted bitterly.


    (But that doesn¡¯t mean we have to like it.)


    (Quite.)


    Running a hand down her face she moved on to M.A.D.s who¡­ were not subtle in their mind control methods given how most seemed to revolve around installing tech into or onto their victim¡¯s brains be it organic or mechanical tech.


    She was very glad she couldn¡¯t actually make out what the whispers were saying about this topic.


    (That we can build it, but that we¡¯re nowhere near the level necessary for it.) Her inner madness supplied (un)helpfully.


    (Thank you.) She growled sarcastically, before skipping to how a number of Wonderlanders had a passive Slaver effect that while not particularly powerful, did remove the inhibitions of those caught within it causing them to act drunk or exasperate underlying conditions. With the actual scale of said effects being proportional to how much power they had as well as inversely proportional to how much control they had.


    (Meaning they¡¯re effect grows with power but shrinks with control.) Her inner logic summarized. (And the effect fades rather rapidly once outside of their field of effect.)


    (True, though there¡¯s also something about not keeping Wonderlander enhanced objects nearby, because it¡¯ll renew the effect even if in a much smaller range.) She read, trying to remember if she¡¯d seen Tommy with any odd items recently.


    (None that I can recall.)


    ¡°Okay so that just leaves Malcontent.¡± She murmured to herself, before pulling up what little information she could on the last Deviancy to make itself known.


    Something that was difficult thanks to the fact that the Malcontent were -relatively speaking- the newest Deviancy as well as the one with the smallest chance of occurrence with only an estimated two-thousand to be found within the US¡¯s estimated three-million Deviant population.


    Their Slaver effect however was surprisingly detailed, explaining how while a Malcontent could make people do what they say, it was usually limited to two or three word commands, could be resisted with enough willpower, and the effect usually only lasted for a few minutes at most.


    (It¡¯s a little suspicious just how much information there is on this, when everything else on them is so scarce.) Her inner madness noted.


    (True¡­) It was a bit odd just how detailed this subject was compared to other Deviancies and even just other information on the Malcontent.


    (Perhaps since Slaver effects are automatically considered evil, a well intentioned Malcontent publicized as much information as they could on the power, to make the Deviancy seem less intimidating?) Her inner reason guessed.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    (Maybe, but you can¡¯t get very un-intimidating when you eat people.) Her inner passion scoffed.


    (And if it was written by a Malcontent trying to do that then it makes the whole thing suspect¡­) She had to agree.


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya has a better understanding of Slaver Effects and how each Deviancy uses them.


    ---


    Getting through school that day was more difficult than usual thanks to obvious reasons, her classes doing little to drag her out of her thoughts revolving around Tommy and what kind of Slaver effect he could be under. As well as the drag her lack of sleep put on her making it difficult to put up with the tedium of sitting through lectures on subjects she probably knew better than her teachers.


    (At least this was the last class of the day.) She couldn¡¯t help but think with something resembling relief as she made her way through her school halls.


    ¡°So city park correct?¡± A familiar voice asked with a hint of amusement, drawing her attention to Ying who was walking while talking on her phone. ¡°Alright, see you soon.¡±


    (Wait, who¡¯s our rich-girl-waifu talking to like that?) Her inner passion asked shortly.


    (Why do you keep calling my friends our waifus?) She asked herself, while making her way towards said waifu. (Don¡¯t you start too!)


    (Because a decent portion of the eyes reading our thoughts are shipping us with them.)


    ¡°The what? Doing what now?¡± She frowned, unable to keep herself from voicing the questions aloud thus drawing Ying¡¯s confused attention.


    (Don¡¯t worry about it, our waifu is looking at us like we¡¯re crazy.)


    (In a sense we are.)


    (Not the time.)


    ¡°Uh, who was that Ying?¡± She blurted, unable to come up with a better distraction from her crazy.


    ¡°A friend I made over summer.¡± Ying admitted with a quirk to her mouth.


    ¡°The summer you won¡¯t tell me about?¡± She pressed with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°Yes that one.¡±  Ying nodded, before seeming to think about something. ¡°As well as a few before that if we¡¯re going by a technicality.¡±


    ¡°And I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯re going to tell me about those either.¡± She said with a tense smile.


    ¡°Well they aren¡¯t really relevant to the now, are they?¡± Ying asked with an amused smile.


    She felt her eye twitch as she contemplated the positives and negatives of murdering her only friend. (Wait. Hold on. Cross that we have Aisha now too.) (We can kill the bitch.)


    (Perhaps, but we¡¯d lose a waifu if we did that.)


    (Oh, that is a good point.)


    Yep, her eye was definitely twitching now.


    Ying gave a brief laugh before shaking her head. ¡°That said, I am reminded of something with a little more relevance to the here and now, at least going forward.¡±


    ¡°And that is?¡± She asked cautiously, knowing just how tricky Ying could be with wordplay when given the opportunity.


    ¡°I¡¯ve had a recent¡­ discussion with my mother.¡± Ying told her, for once keeping her smile despite referencing her frequent -and often one-sided- arguments with her mother.


    ¡°What about?¡± She blinked, feeling legitimately curious now.


    ¡°Due to some¡­ rough politicking, I have managed to successfully petition my mother into giving me a little more free time to myself, outside of the house.¡± Ying informed her with a hint of smugness.


    ¡°Dios mio! That is good news!¡± Maya cheered with wide eyes. ¡°How¡¯d you manage to pull that off?!¡±


    ¡°As I said, some¡­ rough politicking.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to Ying.


    -Ying will be more readily available going forward.


    ---


    ¡°Uh, what are you working on there?¡± Kim asked, since Maya had once more invaded her lab since the club still hadn¡¯t finished her room, despite her need to tinker and get her mind off of things.


    (Actually, now that you¡¯ve mentioned it, I¡¯m starting to wonder if I should ask Kim or Melvin about why that¡¯s taking so long.)


    (Shouldn¡¯t hurt.)


    ¡°It¡¯s a¡­ bio-pod.¡± She answered, figuring that while it wasn¡¯t exactly the prettiest invention, Kim -as a bio-M.A.D.- wouldn¡¯t judge her. ¡°It should allow me to rapidly grow things and I had this idea for growing¡­ healing herbs.¡±


    Just because she didn¡¯t think Kim would judge her, didn¡¯t mean she was going to admit to growing critters and such either. Especially given all of the restrictions the other teen was always complaining about when it came to her specialty.


    ¡°That could be interesting.¡± Kim admitted, before seemingly thinking about something. ¡°You know, have you considered the possibility of a medical specialty?¡±


    ¡°A what?¡± She blinked.


    ¡°A medical specialty.¡± Kim repeated, before explaining that, ¡°You have your scanner and these healing herbs, so maybe you¡¯ve got a talent for medical stuff.¡±


    ¡°Uh, maybe?¡± She hedged, not wanting to list all of the other things she could make. ¡°But I¡¯ve never really focused on medical stuff all that much, so I don¡¯t know why my whispers keep suggesting stuff there.¡± She lied, knowing that was just the random entry-level stuff they gave here rather than the good stuff.


    ¡°Well, are there any big things you want to do?¡± Kim asked thoughtfully.


    (Prove we¡¯re just as amazing as our siblings.)


    (Get a harem and blow shit up.)


    ¡°I want to¡­ help people.¡± She answered neutrally while actively repressing the answers given by her other selves.


    (Hey she asked us an honest question and deserves an honest answer!)


    (Quite right.)


    ¡°Well medical stuff helps people so maybe your power is just pointing you in that direction since it''s the easiest.¡± Kim suggested.


    ¡°Maybe.¡± She nodded.


    (If Maya wasn¡¯t lying to you anyway.)


    Scene Consequences


    -New Biopod set to grow.


    -Due to using the club all resources are refunded.


    -Gained 1XP to Bluffing for Maya lying to Kim (and herself). (And also because I forgot to mention that minion assists are limited to the labs our minions occupy.)


    --Currently: Lv. 3 (1/8)


    ---


    By the time she¡¯d finished setting her biopod up to grow in a corner of Kim¡¯s lab and made it home, she found Vi and her parents sitting in the living room with her father looking concerned and her mam¨¢ looking scared.


    (Vi probably had to hold off on talking to them about this until dad got off work.) She realized, her hopes of not being part of this¡­ complicated conversation cruelly crushed.


    (No, let¡¯s not be melodramatic, it¡¯s better we¡¯re a part of this conversation than not.) Her inner reason reminded her. (Depending on how things go this might be all we can do for Tommy right now.)


    (Right¡­) She sighed to herself.


    ¡°Maya mija.¡± Her mam¨¢ greeted with a fake smile, trying to hide her concern.


    Which is why she turned to Vi and asked, ¡°Have you told them about Tommy yet?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Vi nodded, earning a frown from their mother.


    ¡°Wait you told Maya before you told us?!¡±


    ¡°Technically I pointed it out to her because I wasn¡¯t sure if I was just seeing things.¡± Maya admitted taking a seat next to her sister. ¡°If it makes you feel better Izzy shouldn¡¯t know yet.¡±


    Her mother didn¡¯t look like that made him feel better.


    ¡°I¡­ And you two are sure Tommy is¡­ under a Slaver effect?¡± Their father asked sounding like he was stuck somewhere between denial and resigned acceptance.


    ¡°He¡¯s been out of character and increasingly obsessed with drawing this ¡®mystery lady¡¯ of his for a couple of weeks now.¡± Vi explained for confirmation. ¡°And I¡¯ve talked with his band and apparently he¡¯s been ditching practice, and we all know how important that is to him.¡±


    She hadn¡¯t known that last bit, but it did unfortunately make sense. ¡°Same, but uh, I also looked into Slaver effects to see if he was showing any symptoms and how to break them. The ones closest to what he¡¯s got going on are a Psychic making him obsessed with them for some reason, a high-level Arcane messing with something banned by the Arcane Association themselves, or a Wonderlander object that he somehow got ahold of.¡±


    ¡°Shit.¡± Her father cursed before eventually adding. ¡°This is the kind of thing we¡¯re supposed to call Sanctuary about isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Them or the Heroes¡¯ Guild.¡± Her mam¨¢ agreed, while offering another option. ¡°And I¡¯d probably trust them more than Sanctuary given how they¡¯re supposedly all about helping people.¡±


    ¡°If we¡¯re going with alternatives then what about a Hunter?¡± Vi suggested. ¡°I mean if we need help why not get a professional?¡±


    ¡°A good point,¡± Her father admitted, ¡°but the government -as idiotic as they are- did design Sanctuary to handle this kind of thing on a mass scale.¡±


    ¡°How about you My, which do you think we should go with?¡± Vi asked, drawing attention to her.


    ¡°Um¡­


    Scene Choice


    []-Sanctuary, I may not like them but the government did make them for this purpose.¡±


    []-The Heroes¡¯ Guild, I mean they¡¯re the heroes so saving people is kind of their thing.¡±


    [X]-A Hunter Agency, if we¡¯re hiring them then that means we¡¯re their only priority.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re probably right.¡± Her mam¨¢ told her, running a hand down her own face. ¡°Dios mio this is a shit show.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Her father nodded in agreement, before looking at her and Vi. ¡°You girls give us a bit to¡­  process this, and we¡¯ll get someone over here to try and help Tommy alright?¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Vi sighed, as they all sat there worrying about their loved one and wondering what they could do to help him.

 Turn 53

    Turn 53


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°I could¡¯ve sworn she said she was coming to the park again today.¡± She scowled looking around the relatively empty park.


    (You know there are better methods of spying on our friend.) Her inner reason pointed out dryly as she collapsed on a bench after searching the park for Ying and her mysterious ¡®friend¡¯.


    ¡°Not without invading her privacy.¡± She sighed in resignation.


    (Isn¡¯t that kind of the point?)


    ¡°But there¡¯s a difference between ¡®coincidentally¡¯ running into her and hacking the cell phone company to track her phone.¡± She explained the thing she did to just about everyone passively as long as she had her COMP on her. ¡°That¡¯s different!¡±


    (How pray tell?) Her inner logic wondered dryly.


    (We don¡¯t give a damn about the privacy of people we don¡¯t know!) Her inner passion supplied cheerfully.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± She nodded, glad at least part of her understood her. (Too bad it¡¯s the insane part.)


    (I¡¯m not insane, I¡¯m mad. There¡¯s a difference you know.)


    (I¡¯m just going to walk away while I¡¯m ahead.)


    (But you can¡¯t walk away, we¡¯re in a head.)


    (...)


    Ignoring the bickering of the voices in her head, her attention drifted around the park that she could see before eventually falling on these weird circles of overgrown grass (Wonder what¡¯s up with the weird circles in the grass?)


    (They¡¯re called fairy circles.) Her inner madness supplied. (They normally form thanks to a type of fungus growing beneath the ground, with said fungus sometimes sprouting mushrooms above ground.)


    ¡°Huh¡­ weird.¡± She frowned, eyeing the circles as something in the back of her mind began to tingle.


    (Actually now that you mention that isn¡¯t the forest technically a park as well?) Her inner logic remembered having to speak over the suddenly interested whispers.


    ¡°But didn¡¯t she say the city park?¡± She frowned.


    (Yes, she did. Yesterday.) Her inner reason nodded. (The conversation you overheard today just mentioned a park.)


    ¡°Fu~ck.¡± She cursed, banging her head against the back of the bench.


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1 Bio-Crit.


    ---


    Hoping to keep this day from being a complete bust, she made her way from the city park and to her lab so that she could collect the contents of the biopod she¡¯d left growing for the last week or so.


    Of course given how she¡¯d left the pod growing for longer than the amount of time she¡¯d intended, she¡¯d wound up with far more fodder than she was expecting. So much so that she was actually having trouble extracting the tangled weeds from the growing portion of her bio-pod.


    ¡°Fuck this.¡± She cursed under her breath, before turning towards her minions. ¡°Oi, I need a bit of help over here!¡±


    Her four minions all stood as attention before rushing over to her and attempting to awkwardly remove the overgrown fodder from her biopod. A task that proved fairly difficult once it became apparent that her drones had no hands, their scrap collection tools only turning the fodder to ash. And the fact that the LCMs were too small to properly harvest the overgrown fodder themselves, their attempts closer to chopping down trees without any tools.


    ¡°On the one hand it sucks that I¡¯m going to have to clean up this mess. On the other¡­¡±


    (Their bumbling is so cute!) Her inner passion cooed.


    Scene Choice and Consequences


    -*Overgrown Crit* Gained 8 Organics.


    Set Bio-Pod (Small) to grow:


    -[]-Basic Healing Herbs: Grow a basic herb with some healing properties. (Requires: 3 Organics and 3 Turns to grow.)


    -[]-Accelerated Fodder: Grow a fodder capable of being used in place of several units of Organics. (Requires: 2 Organics and 2 Turns to grow.)


    ---


    As she got back to her house she found Vi and their parents sitting in the living room with their eyes occasionally drifting towards Tommy in the kitchen.


    ¡°You guys doing alright?¡± She asked, feeling a certain tension in the air.


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re¡­ we¡¯re holding up.¡± Her dad sighed, running a hand down his face. ¡°We¡¯re just waiting on the Hunter¡¯s Agency to show up.¡±


    ¡°Any word on when they¡¯re supposed to get here?¡±


    ¡°They said they¡¯d get here around six, and that¡¯s¡­¡± Her dad checked the living room clock. ¡°Just a few minutes from now.¡±


    (If they¡¯re on time.) Her inner emotion growled, lashing out rather than giving into her other feelings on this topic.


    (Damn it, I guess I can¡¯t keep distracting myself, huh?) Sighing she took a seat on the couch next to her dad, and accepted his arm as he wrapped it around her and pulled her into a half-hug of sorts.


    They spent the next few minutes like this until at the exact stroke of six there was knocking on the door.


    ¡°I¡­ I guess that¡¯s them.¡± Her dad told everyone before getting up and making his way towards the door.


    Once her father opened the door she found herself staring at a familiar young man and a not so familiar young woman talking about something while the woman dabbed a red cloth at her nose.


    (Of course the rents would hire the same Hunter¡¯s Agency I went to¡­)


    (Well they are the cheapest legitimate Hunter¡¯s Agency in the city.) Her inner reason reminded. (And if I remember correctly one of the other two specifically underlined a specialty in killing things, while this one mentioned a ¡®jack of all trades¡¯ sort of specialty.)


    ¡°Um, can I help you?¡± Her father asked not realizing the pair his eldest¡¯s age were the ones he¡¯d been waiting on.


    ¡°Ah, yes, this would be the William¡¯s address, correct?¡± The male of the pair asked, putting his finger tips together.


    ¡°Uh, yes it is.¡± Her dad nodded, his eyes narrowing a bit. ¡°How can I help you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Jack Wright from Hack & Slash incorporated,¡± Jack introduced. ¡°I do believe we spoke on the phone Mr. Williams.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re uh, a bit younger than I was expecting.¡± Her dad admitted, adjusting his glasses.


    ¡°My Deviancy makes me age a touch slower than most.¡± Jack shrugged as if there was nothing odd about that little detail. ¡°Still that¡¯s neither here nor there. You said you were worried about your lad?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right, right.¡± Her dad nodded, before gesturing for Jack and his partner to enter. ¡°He¡¯s in the kitchen now.¡±


    ¡°So to recap.¡± Jack began, following her dad to the kitchen as the rest of them stood to do the same. ¡°Your lad has been showing an obsessive behavior while drawing the same image over and over again, correct?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s right.¡± Her mam¨¢ confirmed as they stepped into the kitchen. ¡°It¡¯s pretty much all he¡¯s been doing for the last few weeks, and normally he¡¯s got so many other things going on in his life like his band and his music.¡±


    The moment Jack spotted Tommy at the kitchen table he smiled before taking a seat across from her brother. ¡°¡®ello mate, do you know who I am?¡±


    ¡°Um, you¡¯re a Hunter my parents called because they think something¡¯s wrong with me?¡± Tommy asked more than said as he looked up from his drawing. Something she¡¯d normally have seen as a good thing if not for the fact that Tommy was still drawing even if more slowly.


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    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t word it like that, they¡¯re just worried some arsehole whammied you with a bit of bad mojo is all.¡± Jack assured her brother.


    ¡°I know and I appreciate it even if I do think this might be a waste of money.¡± Tommy sighed before looking at the Hunter across the table from him. ¡°No offense.¡±


    ¡°None taken so long as you know your ma and da love ya.¡± Jack promised, before rolling his neck. ¡°Still, time for business alright, lad?¡±


    ¡°Alright?¡± Tommy nodded with a touch of amusement.


    ¡°So my friend Sue here is a psychic, now she¡¯s going to do a quick scan of your mind to make sure everything is running how it¡¯s supposed to, alright?¡± Jack explained.


    ¡°Okay?¡±


    (Wait, we¡¯re just going to let someone else mess with Tommy¡¯s mind?!) Her inner passion shrieked as they watched from the sidelines.


    (It makes sense that we¡¯d need a mind power to undo a mind power.) Her inner reason reminded both of her other selves.


    ¡°Um, you guys aren¡¯t going to¡­ mess with my head now are you?¡± Tommy asked, eyeing the female Hunter with a fair amount of wariness all things considered.


    ¡°Not particularly subtle at that bit.¡± Sue admitted with a shrug. ¡°But at the very least I can tell you if something is wrong, He-Jack is actually better at dealing with this kind of thing though.¡±


    ¡°But my detection methods take a good while, and we¡¯re charging by the hour.¡± Jack added, waving away the praise. ¡°And our prices are one of the few things about us that aren¡¯t criminal, mate.¡±


    (Again no one is seeing the red flags in this?!)


    Sue swatted Jack¡¯s shoulder before making her way towards Tommy and crouching down. ¡°Now I just need you to hold still for one moment, alright?¡±


    ¡°Alright?¡± Tommy frowned before both his and Sue¡¯s eyes flashed blue.


    ¡°Um, that¡¯s supposed to happen, right?¡± Vi asked ever so cautiously.


    ¡°Hm, oh yeah.¡± Jack nodded. ¡°Your eyes are directly connected to the brain and are a direct part of the nervous system, making them one of the best ways to directly access the mind. The glow is caused due to the fact that psionics have this unique interaction with Anima that causes any ambient energy to gather and glow despite remaining inactive.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± Vi blinked.


    (Wait, isn¡¯t Anima supposed to be the energy magic runs off of?) She wondered with a frown, not willing to voice her question in case the Hunter suddenly remembered her.


    (Well it does stand to reason that the different powers would have a certain level of interaction with each other even if we don¡¯t know about them ourselves.) Her inner logic pointed out.


    (Maybe that¡¯s something we should look into¡­)


    ¡°So what¡¯s the verdict Sue?¡± Jack asked as Sue backed away from Tommy.


    ¡°This is more your thing than mine.¡± The psychic told him, as a small trickle of blood began to leak from her nose.


    ¡°Dios mio.¡± Her mam¨¢ grimaced alongside the rest of her family. ¡°You¡¯re bleeding.¡±


    ¡°That happens sometimes.¡± The female Hunter shrugged as she pulled out her red cloth and began dabbing at her nose. ¡°Nothing to be worried about.¡±


    (It occurs to me that cloth might not have been red when she got it.)


    (Fuck.)


    Maya was suddenly very glad her nosebleeds weren¡¯t all that common.


    ¡°Anyway, like I said this is more your thing than mine.¡± Sue told her partner once more. ¡°Whatever¡¯s going on with him is more magical than psionic so I can¡¯t really do much here.¡±


    Jack nodded before crouching in front of Tommy. ¡°Alright, well got a place for me to start then, luv?¡±


    ¡°His brain is under one of those focus charms you and Jason are so fond of.¡± Sue answered dully as if this was boring her on some level.


    ¡°Technically we¡¯re doing different things but I get what you mean.¡± Jack glanced towards her parents who were watching the byplay with concern.


    (Are they really being this blaise about all of this?)


    (Well, perhaps this is a fairly mundane task for them?)


    ¡°So good news,¡± Jack told them, clapping his hands together with a smile.  ¡°This is a relatively easy fix, all things considered.¡±


    ¡°And the bad news?¡± Her mam¨¢ asked, knowing that there was always bad news.


    ¡°There isn¡¯t any, just need ten-fifteen minutes and we¡¯ll have your lad right as rain.¡±


    (Accept when there isn¡¯t apparently.)


    Having jinxed herself that was when she heard her front door opening as Izzy came into the house.


    ¡°Mierde.¡± Her mam¨¢ cursed.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of Izzy, you guys just wrap this up.¡± She volunteered quietly before intercepting her little sister by wrapping an arm around her shoulders. ¡°Izzy! Just the middle schooler I wanted to see.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Izzy told her, eyes wide like a scared rabbit caught in the headlights.


    ¡°You see I just remembered I¡¯ve yet to get you to properly forgive me.¡± She informed the struggling middle schooler. ¡°Which is why to show you how responsible I¡¯m being with my health, you and I are going to go on a proper run around the neighborhood!¡±


    ¡°How are you this freakishly strong?!¡± Izzy demanded. ¡°I work out more than you and you''re a pinche couch potato!¡±


    ¡°Come on Missy you can join us too girl!¡±


    ---


    ¡°So how¡¯re you holding up?¡± She asked, a few minutes into their run.


    ¡°Fine, I guess.¡± The middle schooler shrugged, eyeing her warily as she kept the family dog between them.


    (What¡¯s up with her? Shit does she know something ¡®s up?) She couldn¡¯t help but grimace at that thought.


    ¡°Hey, do you know what was up with mom and dad today?¡± Her sister asked the one question Maya didn¡¯t want her to.


    ¡°Um, no?¡± She lied, before frowning. ¡°Though now that you mention it¡­¡± (Have to act like I¡¯m just noticing it.)


    (Or you could have a responsible talk with your sister about what¡¯s happening to her elder brother.) Her inner reason suggested hopefully.


    (No, it¡¯s probably better if this whole thing happens without her even realizing anything was wrong.) Her inner passion argued.


    (Yeah, I don¡¯t want to worry Izzy if I don¡¯t have to.) She agreed, taking the emotional route over the logical one. (Ugh, snippy.)


    (She¡¯s just a sore loser. Which to be fair so are you.)


    (Valid point.)


    Shaking her head she turned back to her little sister. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s just grown up stuff, I mean new month means new bills and all of that junk.¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± Izzy grumbled not really believing that part. (Which is fine since that¡¯s not the part I want her to believe.)


    ¡°Look whatever it is I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll all be settled in a few days.¡± She tried to assure the baby sister she was lying to. (Fuck, just drop it already! The problem is being taken care of so let¡¯s not worry the middle schooler about the fact that her big brother had his mind violated by some irresponsible magic twiddling fuck wad!)


    (...)


    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± She cursed running a hand down her face.


    ¡°Uh, Maya?¡± Izzy called with a touch of concern.


    ¡°Sorry, what was that?¡± She asked, forcing that back to wherever she¡¯d been repressing it.


    ¡°You uh, you had this¡­ face, and¡­¡± Izzy shrugged, making a helpless gesture towards her.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± She apologized hating the fact that she failing at keeping Izzy away from (all of this garbage¡­) ¡°I just, my mind is starting to spiral about all of the things it could be.¡± (and is¡­)


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Izzy frowned as a silence fell over the two sisters and their dog let out a sympathetic whine, a situation that Maya refused to accept for very long.


    ¡°Hey now, look whatever¡¯s wrong¡­ it¡¯ll get sorted out.¡± She promised her little sister. ¡°We just¡­ we just have to keep on, keeping on. Alright?¡±


    Izzy gave her a weak smile. ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± She nodded, bumping her shoulder against Izzy¡¯s. ¡°Then in that case¡­ race you around the block!¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1XP to Bluffing


    --Currently: Lv. 3 (2/8)


    -Thanks to Izzy gained 3XP to Mobility


    --*Skill Level Up* Mobility Lv. 5 (2/12)


    ---


    ¡°I call first shower!¡± Izzy told her, running up the stairs. Something she¡¯d usually fight her sister on, if she didn¡¯t have more important concerns.


    She waited until she heard the bathroom door slam shut before turning to her parents and Vi on the couch with neither Tommy nor the Hunters in sight. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡±


    ¡°Well according to the Hunters Tommy should be alright, though he¡¯s going to have a vicious headache for the next few days.¡± Vi told her. ¡°Apparently the charm he¡¯d fallen under was also making it easier for him to focus so now that that¡¯s gone it¡¯s going to take him a minute to readjust.¡±


    ¡°But this weird drawing thing should be over right?¡± She swallowed down her apprehensions. ¡°He¡¯s going to be back okay, right?¡±


    ¡°Should be.¡± Vi told her in a way that said she was hopeful but not particularly sure.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be fine mijas.¡± Their mam¨¢ assured them, before frowning. ¡°And if not I¡¯ll beat those Hunters bloody myself.¡±


    ¡°That might be a bit extreme honey.¡± Her father chuckled warily.


    ¡°Okay, but um, did they say what they¡¯re going to do about the person who did this to Tommy?¡± She had to ask, though she didn¡¯t feel very good about the looks her family made.


    ¡°They said they could track down who or whatever was responsible for this mess in the next month if we wanted.¡± Her father began, before trailing off.


    ¡°But?¡± She prodded with a frown.


    ¡°But it¡¯ll cost us a thousand dollars that we don¡¯t have just yet.¡± Her father admitted, pinching at the bridge of his nose. ¡°What¡¯s more they said that since they removed the effect from Tommy already, the method they¡¯d use to track the one responsible would fade over the next month or so.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re, they¡¯re just going to let whoever did this get away?!¡± She yelled before remembering that Izzy and Tommy both were upstairs, and hissing, ¡°How can they do that?!¡±


    ¡°The way that bruja explained it, they have a business to run and have to prioritize problems by their actual threat.¡± Her mam¨¢ growled. ¡°As long as the cabron responsible for this isn¡¯t killing anyone then they won¡¯t go after them.¡±


    ¡°What, but that¡¯s-?!¡±


    ¡°To be fair, they did recommend having us call the Heroes¡¯ Guild or Sanctuary if we want an investigation done and that they¡¯d provide proof that something did happen to Tommy.¡± Her father cut in with a sigh. ¡°Though they warned us that that method would probably take a while to see any results.¡±


    (Well then I¡¯ll just have to make my own results!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Artistic Obsession Updated


    --Tommy is safe. (Now we can track down whoever is responsible for this and beat them into a coma.)

 Turn 54

    Turn 54


    --- Maya ---


    Sitting in her classes having finished her work (very) early, she was left with more than enough time to try and figure out how she was going to find the person responsible for putting Tommy under a Slaver effect.


    (The most obvious solution would be to try and gather the funds necessary to hire Hack & Slash once more.) Her inner reason supplied.


    (Yeah, no. I don¡¯t care for that one.) She admitted to herself, not wanting to rely on someone else to deal with this kind of thing, no matter how much easier and safer it would be for all parties involved. (Still not doing it.)


    (Well, given how that cancels out the next most obvious choice of letting Sanctuary or the Heroes¡¯ Guild deal with this, our next best bet would be to talk to Tommy. Though we¡¯ll likely have to wait until he was actually feeling well enough to leave his bed, before trying that.) Her inner logic continued. (From there we¡¯d have to actually look into the local Arcane scene, if we want to track down a rogue Arcane.)


    (Right, though that¡¯s not something we can do given how they probably don¡¯t just advertise that kind of thing online.) She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.


    (Given human stupidity we may be surprised.) Her inner passion argued with a scoff. (Though there¡¯s also people we could ask for help with that kind of thing, without handing it over to someone else.)


    (There is that Arcane club I guess, but I¡¯m not sure how much help they¡¯ll be with this kind of thing.) She frowned. (I mean they¡¯re supposed to be a bunch of posers aren¡¯t they?)


    (Perhaps they do know a thing or two about their given subject matter?) Her inner reason mentally shrugged, wanting to believe in the intelligence of humanity.


    (Yeah, no, that¡¯s not what I was talking about.) Her inner madness shot down bluntly. (I was thinking more about trying to call Decker. He might want a favor for helping us but he¡¯s also a gang lieutenant, so he¡¯s probably got a line on things we don¡¯t.)


    She couldn¡¯t help but blink at the sheer insanity of that idea. (This, this is why we call you my inner madness.)


    (No wait, they¡¯re may be some merit to this idea.) Her inner logic stepped in.


    (You can¡¯t be serious.)


    (I¡¯m not calling it a good idea, I¡¯m saying there may be merit in at least seeing if he can point us in the right direction.) Her inner reason explained. (At the very least it could set up a line of contact for a criminal informant if things play out decently.)


    (Uh, still don¡¯t like that idea.) She grimaced, before offering her own alternative. (What if we could try running a couple of Tommy¡¯s pictures through our Informant Network () instead?)


    (That could work, but with our current parameters it¡¯ll only flag someone if they have a criminal record, or a very public face.) Her inner logic pointed out.


    (Still a better idea than going to the gang lieutenant we picked a fight with month before last.)


    (Eh, you never know. Cabron might not even be holding a grudge.)


    Scene Consequences


    -New Options Available In Hero Menu.


    -New Upgrades Available.


    ---


    ¡°So what¡¯s up?¡± She asked, having only been half paying attention when Aisha had dragged her and Ying to the library to play a game.


    ¡°Well, um, the thing is¡­¡± Aisha mumbled along nervously. ¡°There¡¯s this uh, game I¡¯ve been wanting to play, but um, I¡¯ve never had enough fr- er, people to play it with.¡±


    (Ah, she¡¯s embarrassed to be a social outcast, how cute!) Her inner passion cooed.


    (That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s not a good thing.) Her inner reason pointed out, though whether towards Aisha¡¯s status or the other voice¡¯s reaction she couldn¡¯t tell. (Just to be clear it was both.)


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re all gamer girls, so what game do you want to play?¡± She tried to encourage awkwardly, remembering how she¡¯d felt in grade school back before Ying had befriended her.


    ¡°Okay, so, um, you know about the Deviant¡¯s Masquerade games, right?¡±


    ¡°The series published by the Arcane Association with copyright permissions from Sanctuary and the Heroes¡¯ Guild to try and spread Deviant awareness and acceptability while also turning enough profit to help fund their numerous charities and the guild?¡± Ying checked before noticing the other girls staring at her and nodding. ¡°Yes, I know a thing or two about it.¡±


    (More than a thing or two from the sound of it¡­)


    (Seriously, how does she know more about Deviants than us?!)


    (Well, we do spend the majority of our time inventing rather than studying other Deviancies.) Her inner logic reminded her other selves.


    ¡°Right, well um, they have a tabletop version of the game and I was wondering if you two would mind¡­ getting together every so often to play?¡± Aisha asked a little nervously. ¡°You don¡¯t have to if you don¡¯t want to but, I know Maya likes games, and I¡¯ve always wanted to try it so¡­¡±


    ¡°Sure, that¡¯s one of the few I can¡¯t get my siblings to play.¡± She admitted, knowing that game wasn¡¯t allowed for the Williams Sibling Game Night due to the fact that by the time everyone¡¯s turn to pick had passed everyone had forgotten what was going on in-game.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    (Well that and you¡¯re all far too competitive to work all together.) Her inner reason added dryly.


    (We must maintain Alpha sibling status!) Her inner madness shot back.


    (Doesn¡¯t Vi currently have Alpha sibling status?)


    (Only because she cheats at cards.)


    ¡°G-great!¡± Aisha smiled, Ying apparently having agreed while she was busy arguing with herself. ¡°Hold on, I have character sheets printed out here!¡±


    The excited teen reached into her backpack before handing a set of pages to each of them, and setting a book on the table between the three of them.


    ¡°Um, I feel this might be a little more complex than I was expecting¡­¡± Ying admitted, not sounding like she actually minded that detail as she pulled the book to herself. ¡°So how exactly does this work?¡±


    ¡°Well first you have to decide what kind of character you want.¡± She supplied filling in her own sheet, based on what she could remember from the video game version of the RPG. ¡°You can pick any of the given expansions accepted Deviancies or non-, and then you just sort of go from there. Assigning a number of stat and skill points based on whatever starting Rank our characters are going to be?¡± She gave Aisha a look at that.


    ¡°Oh, um, E-Rank.¡± Aisha answered, having already filled in her character sheet before this. ¡°Which means ten points for primary and secondary stats both, plus forty skill levels with eight being the cap for skills. Excluding Deviancy bonuses.¡±


    ¡°Primary and secondary stats?¡± Ying asked, reading over the outlines of each Deviancy in the character creation section.


    ¡°The primary four are Physical, Mental, Reflexive, and Social, with each having three sub-stats depending on what the main stat does. You then add the two together to decide how many dice you roll for a given type of action as well as certain stat bonuses.¡± She explained, once more keeping her Social stats at the minimum while focusing on her Mental stats.


    (Like a good M.A.D.)


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Ying nodded, before frowning as she read something on one of the Deviancies and flipping to another section.


    ¡°Oh you can also break your primary stat points into two secondary stats.¡± Aisha added in helpfully. ¡°They¡¯re technically worth less that way, but it makes it easier to min-max your stats.¡±


    ¡°Huh.¡± Ying grunted, more focused on what she was reading than what they were saying. ¡°Out of curiosity is there a way to use an Arcane in a more melee role? Because this doesn¡¯t seem to have that.¡±


    She looked up from where she was assigning her skill points and blinked. ¡°Uh, technically, though they aren¡¯t really built for it? They¡¯re more about summoning allies, attacking from a distance, and making gear for everyone than getting into an upclose brawl.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Ying frowned in thought. ¡°So up close magic users aren¡¯t a thing in the game¡­ hmm.¡±


    ¡°Um, if you want a more, uh, warrior-like magic-user, Deadmen and Malcontent tend to work in that role.¡± Aisha offered. ¡°I mean you¡¯d have to take both a Reputation and Hunger debuff due to their, uh¡­ situations but you could still use them.¡±


    ¡°And what would the difference between the two be?¡± Ying asked curiously.


    ¡°Well... Most Deadmen characters make for better Infiltrators and most Malcontent have a scaling buff/debuff the longer they fight.¡± Aisha explained after thinking about it for a moment. ¡°Oh, though both are also limited to a single ¡®Affinity¡¯ if you want to go that route.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­ I can work with that.¡± Ying nodded, beginning to fill in her character sheet.


    ¡°You sure? Because that¡¯s probably the hardest Deviancy to play.¡± She felt the need to point out. ¡°It might be a bit much for your first RPG in general.¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll be able to handle it.¡± Ying argued, filling her Deviancy section out first.


    ¡°If you¡¯re sure.¡± She hedged, before blinking as she read Ying¡¯s chosen attribute. ¡°Huh, ¡®Storm¡¯¡­ that is actually a really broken affinity all things considered.¡±


    Ying gave her a snort of amusement as she smiled. ¡°Yes, yes it is.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to the girls.


    ---


    Once she was done setting up for the first game with the girls next week, she made her way to her lab to try and work on a skill she felt was going to be of extreme importance over the course of the next few weeks. Of course that necessity did not mean much for her actual ability with said skill.


    ¡°How am I still missing?!¡± She screamed after missing her twentieth shot in a row.


    (Because you apparently can¡¯t hit the broadside of a barn?)


    ¡°But I managed to hit stuff the last time we did this!¡±


    (Beginner¡¯s luck?)


    ¡°Fu-¡± (The minions are watching.) ¡°-dge luck!¡±


    (Out of curiosity why aren¡¯t we taking a more¡­ unique approach to this problem.)


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She asked just a touch too aggressively. ¡°Not the time.¡±


    (What she¡¯s talking about is an aimbot.) Her inner madness answered. (Though we¡¯d be admitting we¡¯re a scrub if we do that.)


    (We¡¯re an M.A.D., using tech to cheat is our entire Deviancy.) Her inner reason argued. (Ergo practicing a skill we can hack is the act of a scrub.)


    (I want to argue but you have a fairly valid point.) Her inner passion admitted.


    She considered the voices¡¯ suggestion before looking at her hand cannons and focusing on the whispers, slowly pulling out their ideas for rapidly improving her aim.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± (Training is for scrubs.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1XP to Marksman


    --Currently: Lv. 1 (2/4)


    -New Software available for development.


    ---


    Despite having an idea for using her programming to help improve her aim, she decided that she wanted to spend the rest of the day doing something other than focusing on her failed marksmanship practice. This combined with remembering Jack¡¯s words about him and his partner¡¯s scanning abilities, is why she instead got to work on improving her own Scan() capabilities.


    Namely by creating a system by which she could quantify and classify the various things her scanner had picked up on. A system that as she slowly pieced it together, she came to a revelation that had the gamer in her slowly growing more and more excited.


    (We need it!) Her inner madness declared as she began running simulations on how best to quantify structural damage to a given object, as well as how to determine what said object¡¯s maximum damage threshold was.


    (Normally, I¡¯d find a reason to argue with her just to be contrary or play devil¡¯s advocate, but in this case I wholeheartedly agree.) Her inner logic admitted. (We need it!)


    ¡°I know.¡± She told herself with just as much need as she continued to work away at the program that would essentially let her quantify the world around her into one massive RPG. ¡°We need it.¡±


    Sadly-


    (No.)


    -as the day weighed on and her curfew began to approach-


    (Come on don¡¯t do this to us!) She begged.


    (I¡¯m sorry, I have no choice in the matter.) Her reason whimpered.


    -she found she didn¡¯t have enough time to finish her program.


    (Motherfucker!)


    (I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m so, so sorry¡­)


    (Fuck you quest game balance! FUCK YOU TO HELL!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Upgrade Scanning and Quantifications (1/2)

 Turn 55

    Turn 55


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Okay, so what exactly do we know about these guys?¡± She asked herself, having a brief tactical meeting before going in to meet the school¡¯s Arcane Club.


    (Their leader is one Noah Delacroix, he¡¯ll be the boy wearing too much jewelry.) Her inner reason supplied. (If we¡¯re lucky someone here will actually know something about magic.)


    (But we shouldn¡¯t get our hopes up since this entire club is more about fanboying -or girling- over the Arcane rather than being actual magic users.) Her inner passion pointed out.


    ¡°Still¡­ we need somewhere to start.¡± She sighed, before knocking on the club door.


    There was a bit of shuffling on the other side, before a large teen opened the door. ¡°Uh, yes? Can we help you?¡±


    ¡°This is supposed to be the Arcane club or whatever right?¡± She asked, unable to keep her personal bias against magic to herself for even five minutes. (Okay, I was a little rude but I haven¡¯t actually pissed anyone off yet!)


    The large teen narrowed his eyes. ¡°We¡¯re an RPG club, not an Arcane club.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± She blinked. ¡°That¡¯s actually helpful in a way I can respect, even if it¡¯s not what I¡¯m after.¡±


    (She¡¯s totally going to fuck this up isn¡¯t she¡­)


    (Quite possibly¡­) Her inner logic sighed.


    ¡°Uh, what do you mean?¡± The large teen asked, clearly caught a little flat footed by her response.


    ¡°Originally I was looking for help with a ¡®magic¡¯ problem, but an RPG club can help me with a different problem.¡± She explained, ¡°You see one of my friends is new to tabletop RPGs and I think we may¡¯ve overwhelmed her a bit with our last session, but she¡¯s the one who decided to play a Malcontent for her first game.¡±


    The large teen winced. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s not a smart move.¡±


    ¡°I know right!¡± She nodded. ¡°I tried to warn her, but she¡¯s being stubborn, so I¡¯m hoping if you can¡¯t help with the magic thing you can help with a Malcontent build or something since I never play Malcontent.¡±


    ¡°Oi, Frank who is it?¡± A voice called from inside the club room.


    ¡°Uh, someone with a ¡®magic¡¯ problem, who also wants help with a beginner¡¯s Malcontent build.¡± The large teen ¡®Frank¡¯ called back.


    ¡°Hold up.¡± The voice said, before a teen she just recognized as Noah stepped around him.


    (The jewelry really does make him more identifiable.)


    (It also doesn¡¯t go with his outfit.) Her inner madness added.


    ¡°What¡¯s this about a ¡®magic¡¯ problem?¡± Noah asked.


    ¡°My brother apparently got hit by a screwed up ¡®focusing charm¡¯ or some shit, and now I¡¯m looking for a way to keep that from happening again.¡± She explained shortly, wanting this whole charade over with. ¡°Hence me coming to what I thought was the school Arcane club.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± Noah blinked, not expecting that. ¡°Is¡­ Is your brother an Arcane?¡±


    ¡°No, he just got whammied by one.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯ve gone to the heroes¡¯ guild right?¡± Noah checked. ¡°Or a Hunter¡¯s Agency at the very least.¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± She couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes. ¡°We¡¯re not idiots.¡±


    ¡°Right, um¡­ Okay, so personal defensive charms aren¡¯t really my thing, but my family does run a magic shop.¡± Noah admitted, pulling a card from his wallet. ¡°If you head there you might be able to find something.¡±


    ¡°A magic shop?¡± She repeated with some scepticism, earning a look from the other teen.


    ¡°Yes, a magic shop.¡± Noah confirmed dryly. ¡°You were looking for a solution to a magic problem, so I don¡¯t really know what you were expecting beyond a card to a Hunter¡¯s Agency.¡±


    ¡°And¡­ this is a real magic shop, right?¡± She asked, accepting the card. ¡°Not some scam, where I have to come back and break your kneecaps.¡±


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Rather than answering Noah snapped his fingers, teleporting a black book into his hand before closing the door in her face.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± She blinked. (I don¡¯t think we¡¯re the only Deviant in school.)


    Scene Consequences


    -New Search Location: The Witches¡¯ Wares.


    ---


    Finally having a bit of time to work, she made sure to finish her work on her Scan upgrade. Her inner gamer having demanded that she finish the upgrade as soon as possible and turn the world into an RPG.


    ¡°That should do it!¡± She giggled, with just a hinge of the mania M.A.D.s were infamous for.


    (Hey! If they¡¯re building shit this cool, then no wonder they¡¯re laughing all the time!) Her inner madness argued.


    (Fair.) Her inner reason conceded to that point.


    Sliding her Headset on she used Scan () on herself before watching a white 20/20 pop up under a red bar, ¡°Okay, so far, so good¡­¡± She nodded, before turning towards her minions.


    A quick series of scans resulted in the DM¡¯s giving a pair of 10/10s beneath their bars just as her scans of the LCMs resulted in a pair of 5/5s beneath theirs.


    ¡°So roughly consistent scanning parameters, now just have to figure out if it adjusts for actual damage.¡± She told herself, feeling a bubbling amount of excitement.


    (Uh, preferably without damaging our minions!) Her inner reason reminded her.


    ¡°Well, duh.¡± She said with a roll of her eyes.


    (As if we¡¯d ever hurt our babies.) Her inner passion agreed with her own scoff.


    (And without harming ourselves either¡­) Her inner logic continued, knowing who she was dealing with.


    ¡°Okay, now you¡¯re making this needlessly difficult.¡± She sighed, before looking around for something to break.


    (How about the door?) Her inner passion offered.


    ¡°That could work.¡± She nodded, walking over to her wooden door, wondering if she should test her metal doors.


    (Preferably not.)


    ¡°Fine.¡± She sighed, before taking a stance and scanning the door. (20/20.)


    Nodding once more, she pulled her fist back before punching the door as hard as she could and- ¡°Fu-rmmm!¡±


    She bit down on her lip to muffle her screamed curse, not wanting her minions to hear it, before shaking out her aching hand as she hopped in place.


    (I asked you not to hurt us¡­) Her inner reason groaned. (Why couldn¡¯t you just use the Hand Cannons?)


    ¡°Because I didn¡¯t think to!¡±


    (It¡¯s your job to stop us from doing stupid shit!)


    (I kept Maya from punching a metal door!)


    (So you half assed the job since she still punched a door!)


    (Then why didn¡¯t you stop her?!)


    (Because it¡¯s not my job to!)


    Cringing over her hand, she turned to the door and gave it another Scan ().


    ¡°Eighteen out of twenty¡­¡± She chuckled, smiling through the pain. ¡°Success!¡±


    (Hello RPG world!)


    (You¡¯re both idiots¡­)


    Scene Consequences


    -Scan () upgraded to V1.4


    --Scan () now reveals target Physical HP.


    --Physical HP of Maya¡¯s party is now quantified alongside their health state.


    ---


    Having a Saturday to herself with little else to do, she focused on working on creating an Aimbot for her Blaster Protocols ().


    Admittedly she could have attached the sub-program to her UI Management (), which in turn would¡¯ve offered her the chance of applying her aimbot to more equipment, but she felt that by specializing the aimbot for her Blaster Protocols () meant that she could more easily set the program to work alongside her Hand Cannons improving her aim even further than her UI Management () would¡¯ve with having to account for different weapon types.


    (Of course none of this changes the fact that you can¡¯t shoot to save your life.) Her inner passion pointed out boredly. (Which you know would kind of be the point of shooting in the first place.)


    (Well that or saving someone else¡¯s life.) Her inner reason tacked on.


    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± She nodded, raising her glove towards her target. ¡°Steady, aim, and¡­ fire!¡±


    A bolt of electricity shot out of her Hand Cannon and struck the brick sitting almost twenty meters away. She adjusted her aim and proceeded to repeat this feat with the next two bricks she¡¯d lined up, before turning her other Hand Cannon on another trio of bricks, not missing a single shot.


    ¡°Ha, yes!¡± She cheered, before giving a mad laugh. ¡°Who can¡¯t hit the broadside of a barn now?!¡±


    (You still, since you need an aimbot scrub.)


    ¡°Fuck you.¡± She growled quietly enough that none of her nearby minions could pick it up.


    (If you don¡¯t believe me try throwing a Brick and then shooting it.)


    Her eyes drifted to a nearby brick.


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel like it.¡± She admitted.


    (Uh, huh, and it has nothing to do with the aimbot readjusting our Hand Cannons¡¯ firing lenses and not being able to adjust fast enough to calculate a moving target at the same time.) Her inner madness critiqued dryly.


    ¡°Come on, aren¡¯t you supposed to be the fun voice?¡± -(I resent that)- She whined childishly. ¡°Why¡¯re you being such a killjoy?¡±


    (Because we are capable of better explosions than this and I refuse to settle for mediocrity!)


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ not wrong¡­¡± She forced herself to admit, since she couldn¡¯t argue against the fact that she could cause better explosions if she wanted to.


    (I stand by yesterday¡¯s statement.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Blaster Protocols () upgraded to V1.2


    --All Blaster weapons gain +5 to accuracy checks on stationary targets.


    WARNING: COMP memory cap exceeded please choose a non-essential program to remove until Memory is freed or raised.

 Turn 56

    Turn 56


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°This looks like the place¡­¡± She told herself glancing between the card Delacroix had given her and the sign reading ¡®the Witch¡¯s Wares.¡¯ ¡°Here¡¯s hoping they have something that can help us.¡±


    (They¡¯re a magic store. It stands to reason that they sell a few basic defenses to said magic at the very least.) Her inner logic assured her.


    (Or better yet, we can probably get the Whispers to give us a few cool ideas from looking at all of their shit.) Her inner madness pointed out.


    (That¡¯s an option as well.) Her inner reason admitted.


    Stepping into the store, she felt something beginning to scratch at her head giving her a migraine. Almost as if the air pressure in the store was vastly different from the air pressure outside of it. (What the hell?!)


    Her eyes began darting around the store as the whispers began trying to figure out what was affecting her and-


    ¡°The store is bigger on the inside.¡± A voice told her, immediately releasing the pressure on her head as she realized that yes the store really was bigger on the inside.


    ¡°What¡­ what the fuck was that?!¡± She gasped, not really understanding what had just happened.


    ¡°There¡¯s a spatial enchantment on the store giving me more floor space.¡± A dark-haired woman explained from behind the counter while reading a book. ¡°You¡¯re like the third, fourth M.A.D. to walk in here and freak out because of how the enchantment interacts with your power¡¯s passive awareness the first time you see something like this.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± She squeaked, realizing she¡¯d been outed in less than a minute of entering the store. (This was a bad idea.)


    She felt the fact that neither of the voices in her head had responded to that, was pretty much confirmation of that idea.


    The cashier rolled her eyes, before turning a page. ¡°This is a Deviant store, I honestly don¡¯t care what your Deviancy is just so long as you don¡¯t cause any trouble.¡±


    ¡°R-right.¡± She swallowed, still feeling fairly shaken.


    ¡°So, do you actually need something kid, or is this just that whole magic vs science thing?¡± The cashier asked her in a bored tone.


    ¡°Um, what?¡±


    ¡°Usually when I see an M.A.D. come into my store, they¡¯re window shopping to get inspiration on how to prove their science is better than magic.¡± The cashier looked up from her book and looked her in the eye. ¡°In which case if you¡¯re not looking for something specific I¡¯m going to throw you out in five minutes.¡±


    Not wanting to admit that her inner madness had been suggesting just that a few minutes prior, she instead told the cashier that, ¡°I need an anti-Slaver item.¡±


    ¡°What kind?¡±


    ¡°What kind?¡± She repeated with a touch of confusion.


    ¡°There¡¯s like twenty different kinds of Slaver effects we sell aid for, that said we don¡¯t have any for Slashers or Malcontent due to the way Anima and Malice interact with each other.¡± The cashier elaborated without looking up from her book a second time.


    ¡°Um, my brother, he uh, he got hit by this messed up¡­ focusing charm? And it¡­ it made him obsessed with this girl until a Hunter snapped him out of it.¡± She tried to explain. ¡°I¡¯m hoping you have something that can keep that from happening a second time.¡±


    ¡°Second aisle from the left. Looks like a bunch of cheap nick-nacks, if you hit the skulls you¡¯ve gone too far.¡± The cashier told her pointing to her left.


    ¡°Oh, uh, right¡­¡± She nodded, before making her way to said aisle and eventually finding a shelf full of hand sized knick knacks like the cashier had said. ¡°Um, which one do I grab?¡±


    ¡°Do you want guaranteed protection, or general protection with a stab at the one responsible?¡± The cashier asked from the register.


    ¡°Um¡­ guaranteed protection!¡± She called back, figuring that keeping Tommy safe was more important than attacking the one responsible. (Not that that¡¯s going to stop me from shanking the bitch.)


    ¡°Shield marked with a brain.¡±


    It took her a moment to find it, but eventually she found a whole line of shields with different icons carved onto them, and sitting in the middle were three with brains on them.


    (Okay, twenty-five dollars a pop¡­and I¡¯ve got fifty-nine, so I can just afford one for  Tommy and maybe get one for myself too¡­)


    A/N: Just a heads up this is a multi-site choice.


    <del>-Get one just for Maya.</del> Maya refuses to leave Tommy unprotected.


    []-Get one just for Tommy.


    []-Get one for Maya and Tommy.


    ¡°Just so we¡¯re clear these things will protect my brother, right?¡± Her scepticism demanded she ask, once she¡¯d brought the little nick-nack to the counter.


    ¡°Yes, though I should warn you each necklace will only break the effect once. And only if you¡¯re wearing a single one of these, otherwise they¡¯ll cancel each other out when they trigger.¡± The cashier warned her with an explanation as she scanned Maya¡¯s purchase. ¡°From there I¡¯ll also reiterate these things are only good against Arcane and Psionic Slaver effects, anything else and you¡¯d need a more specialized tool that¡¯ll cost you notably more.¡±


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°Uh-huh¡­¡± She nodded, not really sure if that reassured her or not given how little she actually knew about the Arcane outside of a few internet searches. (I¡­ might actually want to fix that at some point¡­)


    ---


    Wanting to get as far away from any Arcane as she could, she made her way towards the (safe, and understandable) M.A.D. club for one of her weekend lessons with Melvin.


    (Please tell me we aren¡¯t going back there again¡­) Her inner passion whimpered, sounding particularly ill now that she¡¯d returned.


    ¡°Not if I can help it.¡± She assured every aspect of herself. ¡°Do either of you know what the hell happened back there?¡±


    (There was¡­ something about the room?) Her inner reason tried to explain. (The dimensions were wrong, the data didn¡¯t fit, and it, it¡­ urgh¡­)


    She felt her headache beginning to return at the memory as the Whispers began bickering just out of her awareness. ¡°Let¡¯s not¡­ Is magic bad for us?¡± She forced herself to reconsider, some part of her demanding that she figure this out before she let it go.


    (It¡¯s not my part¡­) Her inner passion grumbled weakly.


    (No, I¡­ I don¡¯t believe so.) Her inner reason disagreed. (Otherwise we wouldn¡¯t be able to hold the store charm we bought.)


    ¡°I¡­ Yeah, I guess that makes sense.¡± She had to admit, even as one of her hands fiddled with said charm in her pocket. ¡°You think¡­ you think the whispers black box it then?¡±


    It was an idea she didn¡¯t particularly care for, but she¡¯d read enough web-fiction and seen enough anime to know this was the kind of interaction she needed to watch out for.


    (Possibly, though I don¡¯t think it was a direct problem¡­) Her inner logic confessed. (It was more like, like¡­)


    (Like we were trying to divide by zero.) Her inner madness finished. (Or like we were running a program that copies itself and those copies copy themselves, and then there¡¯s more copies than the computer can handle.)


    ¡°So, it¡¯s not that it¡¯s black boxed so much as there was too much to process and it caused whatever part of my head processes the Whispers to crash.¡± She summarized, before frowning. ¡°But shouldn¡¯t that have caused me to black out too? I mean that¡¯s what¡¯s happened the last couple of times we pushed the Whispers too hard.¡±


    (Maybe, though if this happens to all M.A.D.s there may be an emergency disconnect of sorts?) Her inner reason offered as way of explanation. (Though this may just be something we need to ask a more experienced M.A.D. about.)


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She nodded walking into the M.A.D. club.


    ---


    ¡°Ah, there you are kid,¡± Melvin greeted, pulling up his welding mask. ¡°Was wondering when you were going to get here since Kim said you were going to cover her tour today.¡±


    (Shit, I forgot about that.) Her episode at the Witch¡¯s Wares was still throwing her. (Though thinking about it¡­) ¡°Hey, Mel there was something I wanted to ask you about.¡±


    ¡°S¡¯what I¡¯m here for.¡± Melvin shrugged. ¡°Though speaking of, you know how to weld right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got the basics, though I¡¯m more used to working with scrap than anything else.¡± She admitted, knowing full well that her Drone Minions were as cute as they were because of their personalities rather than their actual chassis.


    (They¡¯re just beautiful on the inside.)


    ¡°Alright, then ask your question and grab a mask off the table while I make sure you actually know how to weld.¡± Melvin told her.


    ¡°Well, I was picking this thing up for my brother to try and cheer him up a bit.¡± She started with a half-truth. ¡°The store I went to was this¡­ magic place I guess, and when I stepped in I sort of froze with this really bad migraine until she told me that the store was bigger on the inside.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that happens sometimes.¡± Melvin admitted with a grimace. ¡°You see as M.A.D.s we¡¯ve got this sort of passive awareness where we¡¯re processing everything we see, and cataloguing all of it for possible parts. Or that¡¯s how it was explained to me anyway. What happened is that you stepped into an area where the rules were off compared to what your head is used to processing, and it caused a sort of update short out in your head.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ kind of what I thought happened.¡± She nodded. ¡°Though I¡¯ve got to ask, is this going to happen every time I get close to an Arcane?¡±


    ¡°Eh, it shouldn¡¯t.¡± Melvin shrugged, before pulling down his mask. ¡°I mean it¡¯s only happened once or twice to me but, according to the guys who actually study this stuff, it¡¯s triggered by entering an area with a different set of physics than you¡¯ve previously experienced.¡±


    ¡°So it shouldn¡¯t happen too often, right?¡± She asked one last time as she lowered her own mask.


    ¡°Not unless you wander into a Wonderlander¡¯s domain.¡± Melvin assured her. ¡°Apparently whatever let¡¯s them do their thing makes M.A.D.s high if we spend too long around them.¡±


    (I¡¯m now voting we find a Wonderlander and see what happens to us.)


    ---


    Having finished both her lessons with Melvin, as well as covering Kim¡¯s tour -(And earning sixteen bucks.)- she decided to make one last stop at her lab to try and upgrade her Server Farm in the hopes of solving some of the memory issues she was having with how little memory she had left for her COMP.


    Which is why she decided to try and use a few radio and wi-fi signals to set up an active connection between her COMP and her Server, allowing her to access her more data oriented programs without actually having to store them on her COMP.


    ¡°And¡­ that should do it.¡± She nodded, stepping away from the small radio tower she and her minions had had to build on the hospital roof so as to ensure her data transfer would work in about a third of the city. (Which I¡¯ll have to fix eventually.)


    (So what if they don¡¯t work on the rich side of town. Sanctuary can focus on saving those assholes.) Her inner passion dismissed, while her inner reason argued that.


    (I believe she was more concerned with the fact that our signal only stretches to the southernmost parts of downtown, and barely covers our actual neighborhood.)


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re going to have to spread a couple of signal boosters out around the city if we want access to our data programs wherever we go.¡± She agreed with her more logical self.


    (I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be worth the effort.)


    (Eh, not really.) Her inner madness disagreed. (We¡¯ve only really got two data-programs right now, and only one of those will fit on our Server Farm unless we expand them.)


    (Well¡­ it¡¯ll be worth it with a little more effort.)


    (Right¡­ So which program are we stashing on the Server Farm?)


    ¡°I was thinking my Simple AI () since it lacks the sentience and sapience of the DMs-¡± She stopped herself as something occurred to her.


    (No, it still lacks sentience and sapience, though that won¡¯t be the case in a few upgrades.) Her inner passion assured her.


    ¡°Oh thank god.¡± She¡¯d been worried for a second given how she¡¯d been neglecting the program for months. ¡°Just going to ignore that idea for my own sanity¡­¡±


    (I¡¯m not. In fact I¡¯m going to guilt trip you horrifically for it.)


    ¡°Please don¡¯t.¡±

 Turn 57

    Turn 57


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°So, is there a reason you followed me to the park?¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ No?¡± She lied. (Poorly by the way.)


    ¡°Then do you care to explain how you followed me to this park, when I had my chauffeur drive me here?¡± Ying pressed with a single raised brow.


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    (She caved and used her COMP!)


    (Shut up!)


    Ying smirked at her. ¡°Well, since you¡¯re here I suppose that means you can join me.¡±


    ¡°For what?¡± She asked, not particularly trusting the glint in her friend¡¯s eye.


    ¡°Oh, a simple run around the park.¡± Ying told her with a smile she was sure had too many fangs.


    ¡°That uh, that doesn¡¯t sound too bad.¡± She admitted, following as the other teen began jogging away. ¡°You know I¡¯ve been joining Izzy on a bunch of her runs.¡±


    ¡°And what brought this about?¡± Ying questioned as Maya caught up to her.


    ¡°I found out she¡¯s apparently been doing morning runs by herself. Which, well¡­ she¡¯s in middle school you know?¡± She tried to explain.


    ¡°Ah, big sister concern.¡± The only child nodded in understanding.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± She nodded back, before noticing how Ying¡¯s jog was becoming a bit of a run.


    ---


    ¡°How are you not¡­ out of breath?!¡± She gasped, staring at the other teen who looked like she hadn¡¯t even broken a sweat after, ¡°We just ran like¡­ two fucking miles!¡±


    ¡°Trust me, this is not the most¡­ draconian regime I¡¯ve seen or done.¡± Ying laughed at her agony. ¡°Honestly, if you were in better shape I¡¯d probably keep going.¡±


    ¡°You can keep going?!¡± She cried.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ying nodded succinctly, before smirking at her. ¡°You really should work on that stamina, I¡¯d hate to tire you out after a single round.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but stare at the other girl in disbelief. ¡°Have you always been a stamina freak and I just didn¡¯t notice it or what?!¡±


    ¡°It may be a matter of perspective.¡± Ying admitted, crossing her arms in thought. ¡°Because as much as I care for you, you are a bit¡­ round.¡±


    Her stare turned into a glare. ¡°Did you just call me fat?¡±


    ¡°More of you to love.¡± Ying teased, before giving her a once over. ¡°Not that I¡¯d say no if you want to¡­ burn some of that off working up a sweat.¡±


    ¡°You know I¡¯ve been sparring with Izzy too.¡± She warned with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°Really?¡± Ying smiled with too many teeth. ¡°Now that sounds like fun.¡±


    (Why do I feel like a mouse in front of a hungry snake?)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1XP to Mobility


    --Currently: Lv. 5 (3/12)


    -Grown a bit closer to Ying.


    -Ying can now train with Maya up to twice a week.


    ---


    (I¡¯m not going to lie, part of me was hoping that after so long we were beyond this.) Her inner reason admitted with a sigh.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    (You may not be lying to us, but you sure as hell were lying to yourself!) Her inner passion cackled.


    ¡°She¡¯s kind of got a point.¡± She agreed, stuffing her backpack full of electronics. ¡°Scavenging supplies is going to be part of our routine for a fair while.¡±


    (Perhaps but between our deal with the M.A.D. club offering us free supplies, as well as funds via giving tours, I¡¯d hoped we could do something a bit more¡­ productive with our time.)


    (There¡¯s also beating up criminals for their money!) Her inner madness suggested.


    (Actually, I¡¯m not entirely sure if that¡¯s legal¡­)


    ¡°Sure it is.¡± She argued. ¡°Otherwise it would discourage people from becoming independent heroes.¡±


    (Which given how there is a paid form of heroism in the Heroes¡¯ Guild is a full possibility, given how many Deviants don¡¯t become masks.) Her inner reason reminded her. (Discouraging cocky young Deviants from picking fights with the gangs is likely one of their priorities.)


    (It would also help them distinguish who¡¯s in it for the fortune.) Her inner passion added in a rare moment of insight. (Fuck you!)


    ¡°Guess that¡¯s just something we¡¯re going to have to look into.¡±


    (If we ever go on another patrol anyway.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered 4 Electronics.


    ---


    (So why are we working on memory compression when we¡¯ve got all that space after offloading our programs?) Her inner madness asked curiously. (Seems kind of redundant right now.)


    (Perhaps, but at the same time cleaning the program up would give us a superior starting point should we decide to rework it into the next version.) Her inner logic explained succinctly.


    (Still seems kind of pointless when we¡¯ve got other things to be prioritizing.) Her inner passion yawned.


    ¡°Yes, I know I should be working on something to help us track down Tommy¡¯s attacker.¡± She admitted, pawing at her eyes. ¡°But at the same time when we pick a fight with whoever is responsible for enslaving Tommy we need to be prepared to fight them.¡±


    (Oh, speaking of, we should probably go out and pick a fight or two.) Her inner madness added casually.


    ¡°Uh, why?¡±


    (Have we been in an actual fight before?) Her inner passion pointed out.


    ¡°There¡¯s all our sparring with Izzy, I guess.¡±


    (Sparring doesn¡¯t count.)


    ¡°What about my fight with Decker and his constructs?¡± She frowned. ¡°I won that fight, and his a gang lieutenant.¡±


    (Pretty sure he was sandbagging.) Her inner madness dismissed casually.


    ¡°Well, um¡­¡± She blinked trying to think of another fight she¡¯d been in since starting this whole mask thing. ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    (Yeah, if a more experienced Deviant fights us we¡¯re probably screwed right now.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Scan(): Memory Compression Upgrade (1/2)


    ---


    ¡°Hey, how you feeling, hermano?¡± She gently asked as she entered Tommy¡¯s room.


    ¡°Got a migraine from hell, hermanita.¡± Tommy grinned tiredly as he rubbed at his head. ¡°Other than that? Muy bien, chica.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ figured you¡¯d be having a rough day.¡± She admitted taking a seat on his bed.


    ¡°Hmph, yeah¡­ I can think a little clearer, but at the same time it¡¯s like I¡¯m thinking slower.¡± Tommy tried to explain, before shaking his head. ¡°Honestly, I can¡¯t wait until this crap is over.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ at least you¡¯re no longer enslaved?¡± She offered weakly.


    ¡°That¡¯s a plus.¡± Tommy nodded before sighing. ¡°Still can¡¯t believe I was enslaved though¡­ It¡¯s one of those things you hear about but only as, like, a cautionary tale or some shit.¡±


    ¡°I know what you mean.¡± She sighed herself. ¡°Don¡¯t suppose you remember anything that¡¯ll help the guild catch whoever got you?¡±


    ¡°Nah, just¡­¡± Tommy shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t even remember where I saw the girl I was drawing or anything like that. Just that I couldn¡¯t get her face out of my head.¡±


    ¡°And now?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I still can¡¯t but¡­ it¡¯s different?¡± Tommy frowned. ¡°Like I still remember, but it¡¯s starting to get that foggy memory quality, instead of that crystal clarity I¡¯d had before.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ that has to be a good thing, right?¡± She tried to smile.


    ¡°Yeah, though¡­¡± Tommy ran a hand down his face. ¡°Still feels like this is going to haunt me or some shit until I know I won¡¯t get whammied again.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± (I¡¯m working on it bro¡­) She thought before reaching into her pocket. ¡°If it makes you feel better, I got you this.¡±


    ¡°A brain shield?¡± Tommy asked, managing to crack a smile at the little charm. ¡°I appreciate the thought but, uh¡­ Nah, you know what I could do with whatever good luck this thing brings.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for sparing my feelings.¡± She told him, before shaking her head. ¡°But, no. I got this from a local Arcane shop, it¡¯s supposed to protect you from a single Slaver effect if anyone tries to ¡®whammy¡¯ you again.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Tommy blinked, staring at the charm in a new light. ¡°Thanks¡­¡±


    ¡°I figured¡­ I don¡¯t know, maybe you¡¯d feel better knowing you¡¯ve got a bit of protection if someone tries to enslave you again.¡± She shrugged, not really knowing how else to explain it.


    ¡°I¡­ My¡­¡± Tommy blinked once more before pulling her into a hug she quickly returned. ¡°Thank you Maya.¡±


    ¡°No problem bro.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to Tommy.

 Turn 58

    Turn 58


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Okay¡­ and that should¡­ just about¡­ do it.¡± She told herself, finalizing the last few edits of her program as she optimized it as well as someone could by just cutting out everything not immediately necessary to the program''s functionality. ¡°You say that like there¡¯s something wrong with that!¡±


    (There is.)


    (Namely that it may cause our program to detonate its target.)


    (That¡¯s not a problem.)


    She rolled her eyes at both of the voices in her head. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to blow anything up, it¡¯s a data gathering program not a combative one.¡±


    (Ah¡­)


    (That doesn¡¯t change the danger of doing this with other programs.) Her inner reason warned.


    ¡°Yeah, whatever.¡± She dismissed, before going over the program once more as she updated the version on her COMP. ¡°Hmm, you know looking at what¡¯s left I do see a couple of things we could improve here.¡±


    (Such as?)


    ¡°Well, we could store and update our scan data rather than deleting and replacing it every time we use Scan ().¡± She pointed out, having not noticed that little detail with all of the other (unnecessary) code.


    (Yeah, you deleted the bit that could¡¯ve fixed that.)


    ¡°What?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but ask through grit teeth, having a distinct feeling she knew where this was going, (yet again.)


    (Ah, ah, I just said you shouldn¡¯t be deleting stuff.) Her inner madness defended. (It¡¯s not my fault you deleted the bits the whispers left open for other upgrades.)


    Inhaling and exhaling she forced herself to let it go, before taking another look at her code. ¡°Alright, well how would we go about fixing this.¡±


    (Without undoing everything you just did?)


    ¡°Preferably.¡± She nodded, teeth clenched.


    (No idea.)


    ¡°Of course not.¡±


    (Perhaps, we could try remaking the program altogether?) Her inner reason offered carefully. (We¡¯ve made enough modifications to the program, that I¡¯m sure we could steer the whispers into redesigning it with all of our existing modifications.)


    ¡°But that¡¯s going to take forever!¡± She whined.


    (Then why not add a few more upgrades to the program?) Her inner logic suggested. (That way we¡¯ll be reworking as many of our modifications as possible into the new program.)


    ¡°Huh, that¡¯s not a bad idea.¡± She admitted. ¡°Who knows it might even make it easier to steer the whispers?¡±


    (Oh, it¡¯ll make it easier to steer them, but it¡¯ll also make it harder to hit the next breakthrough for the program.) Her inner madness answered.


    ¡°Breakthrough?¡± She repeated.


    (You don¡¯t think we can fit a few extra upgrades in while the whispers rework our program?) Her inner passion scoffed. (Please, I¡¯m sure we can talk them into giving us something good if we work at it.)


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± She honestly only sort-of understood what her inner madness was talking about, but it did sound like an interesting prospect at the very least.


    Scene Consequences


    -Scan () Upgraded to V1.5


    --Scan() Mem. reduced from 5 to 3.


    --New Version upgrade available.


    ---


    ¡°Huh, so¡­ you¡¯re going to spar with us?¡± Izzy asked, Ying apparently a little unsure of how to handle the other girl.


    ¡°Yeah, Ying knows Kung-Fu.¡± She explained, as Ying gave her an amused look. ¡°So I figured maybe mixing up some of our sparring would do us some good.¡±


    Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°Mm-hmm.¡± Izzy frowned before giving Ying a critical look. ¡°What kind of kung-fu?¡±


    ¡°Southern Dragon Style.¡± Ying answered easily.


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference between Northern and Southern?¡± Izzy pressed suspiciously.


    ¡°North has better kicks, while southern has better hands.¡± Ying smirked. ¡°Don¡¯t worry unlike Maya I actually know how to fight.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I know how to fight!¡± She argued.


    ¡°No, you don¡¯t.¡± Izzy and Ying both disagreed, causing her to frown.


    (Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have brought these two together.)


    ¡°Well, if you really know how to fight, why haven¡¯t you brought it up before?¡± Izzy asked.


    ¡°Because on the few occasions I¡¯ve been to your house there hasn¡¯t been a reason to?¡± Ying pointed out with a touch of confusion. ¡°Though if you really need me to prove it¡­ Hm¡­¡±


    Ying¡¯s eyes drifted over to her before glancing back at Izzy as a smile slowly formed on the teen¡¯s face. ¡°How about a two on one then?¡±


    ¡°Two on one?¡± Izzy blinked.


    ¡°Maya and you versus myself.¡± Ying clarified with an amused look. ¡°I¡¯m sure between the two of you, you can put up something resembling a proper fight.¡±


    (Ooh, shots fired!)


    Izzy¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Fine.¡±


    ¡°Uh, are you two sure about this?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but interject, as Izzy and Ying both entered a stance.


    ¡°Oh, Maya, don¡¯t worry,¡± Ying smirked, ¡°I¡¯ll be gentle.¡±


    (I get the distinct feeling we are in over our heads.) Her inner reason warned.


    (Well¡­ Sink or swim bitch!) Her inner passion screamed.


    Figuring there was nothing else to do, she (unwisely) took her inner madness¡¯s advice and rushed Ying, before delivering a punch with her right. Or rather attempting to deliver a punch with her right, only to find the blow deflected, her arm straightened out, flipped over her head, and a foot trip her ankle, at the same time that a palm slammed into the back of her shoulder, pinning her to the ground.


    ¡°Well, that was¡­ mildly disappointing.¡± Ying admitted, having beaten her even faster than Izzy. ¡°But don¡¯t worry it was just your first time, you¡¯ll do better next.¡±


    (I feel¡­ disappointed in myself for some and I don¡¯t know why¡­)


    (I¡¯ll explain it when you¡¯re older.)


    ¡°Now then,¡± Ying turned her attention towards Izzy. ¡°While the two on one thing seems to have flopped, I don¡¯t believe that¡¯s any reason to actually cancel our fight.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see why we should.¡± Izzy agreed as the two eyed each other. At least until Izzy rushed forward and delivered a sweeping kick to Ying¡¯s legs, that the older girl hopped over before delivering a palm strike towards Izzy that the middle schooler blocked.


    (Well, I¡¯m feeling deeply inadequate.) She couldn¡¯t help but think as she watched the two spar for a good three, four minutes before Izzy finally managed to land a blow to Ying¡¯s face. At which point the two broke apart for a cautious breather.


    ¡°Hm, you¡¯re fairly good for your age.¡± Ying smiled, wiping at the side of her mouth.


    ¡°So are you.¡± Izzy nodded, just a little more winded than the older girl.


    ¡°Suppose I¡¯ll actually have to take you seriously.¡± Ying grinned, taking the time to crack her neck to each side.


    ¡°Please we both know I¡¯m a better fighter than you.¡± The middle schooler scoffed.


    ¡°Correction you¡¯re better at martial arts.¡± Ying disagreed, taking a different stance than her previous. ¡°But as a friend of mine loves to remind me, there¡¯s a lot more to a fight than your fighting style.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡± Izzy laughed.


    ¡°Like the fact that I can punt you across the street.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± Izzy blinked before Ying- (Holy shit she just yeeted her!) (Yes, that.)


    Not giving the middle schooler a moment to recover, Ying quickly followed after Izzy before placing a foot on her back and pinning her to the floor.


    Izzy struggled for a moment, before eventually realizing she lacked the upper body strength necessary to throw off the older girl, and letting out a frustrated growl.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Ying paused, before taking a moment to glance at the downed sisters to say, ¡°So this is what it feels like being on the other side of this.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to Izzy and Ying gained 6XP to Fighting


    --Currently: Lv. 6 (6/14)


    ---


    She inhaled before beginning her trek through the late night suburbs, mildly anxious as she tried to find trouble to deal with.


    (Come on it¡¯s the suburbs, the worst we might find is someone robbing a convenience store.) Her inner passion told her.


    ¡°Look, you¡¯re the one who suggested going out on a patrol.¡± She reminded the voice in her head. ¡°Don¡¯t blame me for having nerves.¡±


    (Yeah, but you weren¡¯t this nervous last time we did this.)


    ¡°I had more on my mind, and wasn¡¯t pushing curfew with the rents. Who are, you know, kind of worried after everything with Tommy!¡± She growled.


    (Quite. Though this is likely something we¡¯re going to have to get used to eventually.) Her inner reason warned her.


    ¡°I know¡­¡± She sighed running a hand down her face. ¡°It¡¯s just this waiting is getting to me¡­¡± And said waiting continued to get to her for another fifteen minutes before something began to ping on her MAP().


    (Ooh, someone¡¯s burglar alarm is going off!)


    ¡°Right, that¡¯s just on the next street over.¡± She nodded, before taking off in a run.


    Quickly making her way to her destination where she found the house in question, with all of its lights turned off, and two cars in the driveway.


    Frowning she double checked her COMP, (and yep this is the place.)


    Swallowing to herself she steeled her nerves before looking around. (Okay, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on exactly, so how should I handle this?)

 Crime In Progress: Home Invasion (I)

    Crime In Progress: Home Invasion (I)


    --- Maya ---


    (Right, I should take a look around and see if this is a false alarm or something.) She told herself, looking to see if there was any obvious sign of burglary.


    (And you have no idea what you¡¯re looking for do you?) Her inner madness asked as she stood there awkwardly for a moment.


    ¡°No¡­ No I do not.¡± She sighed, not really sure how to inspect the building without coming off as a creeper herself.


    (Check your map, it looks like it¡¯s flagging something.) Her inner reason suggested, pointing out the red marker on her mini-map.


    ¡°Huh, it says there¡¯s a criminal in one of the cars?¡± She frowned, looking at the two empty vehicles.


    (No there¡¯s a criminal¡¯s phone in one of the cars.) Her inner logic corrected, reminding her about the fact that the MAP() tracked people based on their wi-fi devices.


    ¡°Right¡­ give me a second.¡± She told the voice, before using her Scan() to pull up whatever information her informant Network had flagged the phone over.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see the phone belongs to a creep who currently has a warrant out for his arrest. Apparently he¡¯s been stalking some woman for the last couple of months, and tried attacking her a few days ago.¡± She read, using her eyes to shift through the files. ¡°There¡¯s also a note about how due to an officer shortage for the local precinct, the patrolling officers for this area are supposed to loop past every so often in case something happens, since they can¡¯t station an actual protection detail.¡±


    (Uh, Maya¡­) Her inner passion called trying to get her attention.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    (Isn¡¯t that address this house?)


    ¡°Oh?¡± Her eyes darted between her MAP() and the police report. ¡°Oh shit!¡±


    Closing out the files she rushed towards the door and tried forcing it open. ¡°Shit! It¡¯s locked!¡±


    Figuring that she couldn¡¯t waste time trying to find another entrance, she pointed her Hand Cannon towards the lock, set it for sound and fired off a small blast, before wincing at the loud sound of the door breaking its lock. (There goes stealth.)


    Shaking her head she started making her way through the house, knowing she couldn¡¯t use her MAP() to help her find the stalker due to him leaving his phone in the car.


    ¡°Who, who the fuck are you and why did you break into my house?!¡± A voice yelled, causing her eyes to snap to the man standing at the top of the stairs with one of his hands behind his back.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°The house¡¯s security system sent out an alert.¡± She answered firing off another Scan () just to make sure this was the guy she was after.


    ¡°What? That¡¯s¡­ Damn it, I knew that thing was more trouble than it was worth.¡± The man scowled before shaking his head as his police record popped up on her headset. ¡°I¡¯m sorry to tell you this but that was a false alarm, we just got the finicky thing installed and I¡¯d forgotten to-¡± The man¡¯s lie cut off as a woman she hadn¡¯t noticed smashed a lamp across the back of his skull.


    ¡°Oh, shit!¡± She cursed hopping out of the way as the man toppled down the stairs, a handgun flying out of his grip as he did so.


    ¡°He¡¯s lying!¡± The woman called, prompting Maya to point her Hand Cannons at his downed form.


    ¡°R-right!¡± She nodded, before kicking the gun away from both herself and the man at her feet. ¡°Um, do you, do you have your phone?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The woman swallowed before letting out a shaky breath. ¡°I just called the police, and the phone is sitting in my room.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s good.¡± She nodded again, not entirely sure of what else she was supposed to do beyond keeping her Hand Cannons pointed at the downed stalker. ¡°I¡¯m uh, I¡¯m sorry about your door?¡±


    The woman blinked before her eyes drifted towards the front door hanging open with a broken handle and lock. ¡°Heh, don¡¯t worry about it¡­ You uh, you got here just in time¡­¡±


    Her eyes drifted back to the gun as she gave the woman one last nod before swallowing at the implications. ¡°Right¡­¡±


    ---


    From there it had taken the police another five minutes to show up, and another ten to haul the stalker away, before they started hounding her with questions about what happened.


    ¡°I was um, I was going on a patrol¡­ I¡¯m new to the whole Mask thing.¡± She tried to explain. ¡°I um, I have this connection to nearby security alerts, and it flagged the house when he broke in. From there I rushed over and tried to help.¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± The officer she was talking with nodded, before looking at the door. ¡°May¡¯ve helped a bit enthusiastically given the door, and the fact that you didn¡¯t have confirmation of a crime.¡±


    She bit her tongue from admitting that she did have probable cause given how she knew her Informant Network() wasn¡¯t strictly speaking legal, at least the parts hacking the police records anyway.


    ¡°You¡¯re lucky the victim isn¡¯t pressing charges on that given your help with her stalker.¡± The officer berated her (like an asshole.) ¡°I¡¯m assuming you¡¯re not affiliated with the Heroes¡¯ Guild in any way?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± She confirmed through grit teeth.


    ¡°Then we can¡¯t call you in as a witness for his trial.¡± The officer told her, making another note on his pad.


    ¡°Lay off her.¡± Another officer called, as they and the woman she¡¯d saved walked over. ¡°She helped distract the guy and get him away from Ms. Smith her, and this is the kind of crime where we don¡¯t need a witness beyond the actual victim.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± The first officer scoffed, before walking away.


    ¡°Yeah, just ignore him.¡± The second officer told her. ¡°He¡¯s always had issues with Masks, and even if you were a bit rough around the edges. You still did good for a first night out.¡±


    ¡°Uh, thanks¡­¡± She laughed a little nervously, not wanting to point out that this wasn¡¯t her first night out.


    ¡°No, thank you!¡± The woman -Ms. Smith- told her. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what would¡¯ve happened if you hadn¡¯t showed up, so thank you for helping.¡±


    ¡°I, uh, I really didn¡¯t do much.¡± She admitted more than a little bashful under Ms. Smith¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°You got him away from me long enough to call the police and sneak up on him.¡± Ms. Smith corrected her. ¡°You did plenty, kid.¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh, it was, it was no problem.¡± She assured her. ¡°I was, I was happy to help!¡±

 Turn 59

    Turn 59


    --- Maya ---


    (Okay this is a literal garbage fire.) Her inner madness stated dryly.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not that bad.¡± She tried to disagree quietly.


    (No, I mean there is a literal garbage fire two steps to our left.)


    She glanced to the side where a fire had in fact begun in the trash bin. ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    (You know on second thought perhaps we shouldn¡¯t have asked the M.A.D. who regularly sets his lab on fire for tips.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah, I uh, I kind of thought the robots catching fire was a one time thing¡­¡± She admitted.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Jim apologized from next to her. ¡°It usually is but I always end up screwing up my wiring, even if the chassis, casing, and programming all work perfectly.¡± As if to emphasize this point the robot in front of them had its arm blown off. ¡°I can fix that.¡±


    ¡°Uh, yeah¡­¡± She nodded, beginning to regret her choice to be here.


    (Why are we here?)


    (I believe he is the only other M.A.D. we know by name besides Kim and Melvin.)


    There was more crackling from the machine¡¯s frame before it caught fire. ¡°I can fix that too!¡±


    (Yeah, next time let¡¯s just ask the scary-in-a-sexy-kind-of-way club secretary for assistance.) Her inner passion told her.


    The room¡¯s auto-extinguishers chose that moment to finally kicked in, dousing the room in a foamy substance that would put out fires without damaging electronics if her whispers were to be believed.


    (There¡¯s something wrong with you, but you¡¯re not wrong here¡­)


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to club assistance gained 3XP to Metal Working.


    --Currently: Lv. 3 (4/8)


    ---


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m allowed to take the stuff I build here, home with me, right?¡± She asked, ducking into Kim¡¯s lab real quick.


    ¡°Uh, yeah?¡± Kim nodded looking up from one of her critters she¡¯d been inspecting. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t you¡­ have something in your hair.¡±


    She scowled running her hands through her hair since she thought she¡¯d gotten all of it. ¡°I was in Jim¡¯s lab when the auto-extinguishers went off.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± Kim nodded with a grimace full of sympathy. ¡°But uh, yeah, you can bring anything you build here back to your house. I mean isn¡¯t that what you did with your scanner thing?¡±


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Yeah, but I brought that here. I wanted to make sure I could actually leave with them.¡± She explained making her way to the corner she¡¯d stashed her Bio-Pod to grow. ¡°Anyway I¡¯m going to take this home so I can make sure everything grows right.¡±


    ¡°Uh, yeah, you¡­ you do that.¡± Kim agreed, her face pinching a bit as she caught sight of Maya¡¯s Bio-Pod.


    (Huh, you¡¯d think she¡¯d never grown her own Bio-Pod before.)


    ---


    Once she¡¯d deposited her Bio-Pod next to her other one, she began setting it to grow another LCM. Something she hadn¡¯t been willing to do back at the M.A.D. club, due to the mild legal dubiousness of her growing them without a license.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s legal to grow them as long as we don¡¯t sell them to anyone.¡± She argued, filling out the genetic sequences.


    (Which we won¡¯t because they¡¯re our babies.) Her inner passion agreed with a mental nod. (We¡¯re just growing them here so they¡¯ll be with the rest of our kids.)


    Scene Consequences


    -LCM is now growing in Bio-Pod. (3 Turns until ready.)


    ---


    With her Bio-Pod set, Maya moved back to her computer and began working on something that should hopefully make it easier for her to find the person responsible for enslaving Tommy.


    Under her current kit she could only really gather information on people by using Scan() on someone, which required being close enough to get a solid image of their face. Or by scanning their phone to cross reference all of the information linked to said phone with her Informant Network()¡¯s link to the police database.


    Which is why she spent the rest of her afternoon setting it up so that she could run any image through her Informant Network() and pull up any data related to those images. Something that -thanks to a bit of nudging from the whispers- would also allow her to run the images of objects through her database as well as the images of people, though with less specific information gathered about said object.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter right now.¡± She told herself, as she finished installing the upgrade to her Informant Network(). ¡°Especially since we only need it to be able to recognize whoever this girl is.¡±


    (So, any idea how long this will take?) Her inner madness asked as she took a picture of one of Tommy¡¯s drawings, more specifically the only one her mam¨¢ -(and her)- didn¡¯t burn.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know a day or two?¡± She shrugged, setting the Network to look for anything related to the drawing¡¯s image. ¡°I mean this thing basically has to run a data net through the entire net¡­ or the parts it can get into without setting off any flags anyway.¡±


    (Well, in that case we may wish to start heading home.) Her inner reason warned. (It¡¯s already getting late and our mam¨¢ has been on another protective street since everything with Tommy.)


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She sighed, running a hand down her face. ¡°Well at least she¡¯s actually letting us out of the house, unlike Tommy.¡±


    (Eh, don¡¯t worry she¡¯ll mellow out once the whole ¡®my babies are in danger¡¯ thing wears off.) Her inner passion assured her.


    (And if not he can always sneak out through the window of his room.)


    (Wait, doesn¡¯t he already do that?) Her inner madness mentally frowned. (Actually, why don¡¯t we do that when we want to patrol at night?)


    ¡°Because we share a room with our younger sister?¡± She reminded herself.


    (Hmm¡­)


    (No drugging, knocking out, or memory wiping middle schoolers.) Her inner conscience stated quickly.


    (Aww¡­)


    ¡°Should¡­ Should I be worried part of me was legitimately considering any of that?¡±


    (Probably.)


    (Definitely.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Informant Network upgraded to V1.1


    --Informant Network() can now gather information specifically tied to an individual based on their image.

 Turn 60

    Turn 60


    --- Maya ---


    (See this is far more informative than that stuff with Jim.) Her inner madness told her as Melvin showed them how to best reinforce a metal structure with budget materials, something useful both for saving how much metal she needed for a project as well as increasing the armor of the various projects she built with metal. (Much more informative.)


    (Yeesh, give the guy a break.) She told herself with a mental roll of the eyes. (It¡¯s not like he was trying to set everything on fire.)


    (Which is part of the problem!)


    Shaking her head, she started messing with the welding tool Melvin had leant her -and that was giving her ideas for upgrading her own- before trying her hand at the technique he was showing her.


    ¡°Given how you¡¯re probably new to all of this, I doubt you¡¯re aware but there¡¯s a fair amount of debate about whether you should use push or pull style welding. Now personally I find that the best rule of thumb is the saying, ¡®if there¡¯s slag then you drag¡¯.¡± The older M.A.D. explained continuing to watch her carefully.


    ¡°And slag is?¡±


    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s a protective filler commonly used in welding tools to help prevent oxinization of the metal.¡± Melvin answered easily, though in a tone that made her aware of just how amateurish it was. ¡°Since it¡¯s a nonmetallic byproduct you have to remove it when you¡¯re done or else it can weaken the overall welding.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± (That¡¯s something we¡¯re going to want to remember going forward. Especially that part about preventing oxidation because I don¡¯t think our current tools do that.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to Melvin¡¯s help gained 4XP to Metal Working.


    --*Skill Rank Up* Metal Working: Lv. 4 (0/10)


    A/N: Quick heads up this will be an all sites choice on this one.


    For ranking up Metal Working please select a new perk


    []-Efficient Metal Crafting (I)- Reduces the cost of using Metal by a small amount when inventing. (-1 Scrap)


    []-Proper Plating (I)- (Going forward) All inventions that use Metal gain a slight amount of bonus armor. (+1)


    ---


    Making her way back to her lab after a morning spent working at the M.A.D. club, she decided to go ahead and check to see if her Informant Network had discovered anything interesting about the drawings she¡¯d scanned.


    ¡°And if we have a target to render comatose.¡± She made sure to add.


    (Can¡¯t forget that.)


    (Quite.)


    Shifting through the data her Network had gathered, she discovered that while her Informant Network hadn¡¯t found the actual subject of Tommy¡¯s drawings, it had more disturbingly enough found several very similar drawings floating around the internet. (All limited to our city too.)


    ¡°So it¡¯s not just Tommy who got enslaved.¡± She frowned, looking the data over. ¡°If this is an epidemic why isn¡¯t anyone doing anything?¡±


    (Incompetence and red tape?)


    (Or perhaps because none of these cases lasted more than a day or two.) Her inner reason offered by contrast.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She asked, trying to see where her inner logic got that information.


    (Each of these people only drew one or two images in contrast to Tommy who made dozens, if not hundreds of drawings.) Her inner reason pointed out. (Odds are that whatever is hitting everyone hit him harder than most.)


    ¡°That hunter girl did say something about an overcharged focusing charm¡­¡± She remembered thinking it over. ¡°So whoever is throwing those out threw them at a bunch of people, and hit Tommy harder for some reason.¡±


    (Perhaps, if they weren¡¯t keeping track of who they¡¯d already hit they may have targeted him once too many times with the same charm.)


    ¡°Even once is too many times.¡± She scoffed, before applying the address of all the artists she¡¯d found to a map. ¡°Damn it, I was hoping we¡¯d have enough data to triangulate them or some shit.¡±


    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    (Well, if they¡¯re still charming people then that means they likely haven¡¯t achieved whatever goal they have in mind.) Her inner reason pointed out. (Meaning they¡¯ll keep charming more people and we¡¯ll have more¡­ data points to work with.)


    She couldn¡¯t help but grimace at that. ¡°Seriously, there¡¯s nothing else we can do? We just have to wait for the victims to keep stacking?¡±


    (Other than hiring a Hunter or pulling a favor with Decker, there¡¯s not much else we can do right now.) Her inner logic warned.


    ¡°Fucking¡­ Shit!¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Investigation Tab unlocked.


    -Informant Network will now generate a small amount of Intel each turn for this target, upon filling Intel gauge Maya will discover the location of her target.


    --Note: Other actions can fill the Intel gauge more quickly.


    -Gained (2D6 = 6) Intel.


    ---


    Setting aside the¡­ troubling news she¡¯d learned from her Informant Network, she instead focused on something she could actually do something about, namely the fact that she hadn¡¯t realized that stalker was armed the night before. Which is why she disconnected her Scanner from her COMP and began working on a handful of upgrades to the delicate piece of equipment. Of course fitting the upgrades she needed to expand her scanning capabilities inside of said Scanner without making it overly bulky was a problem in itself, one her LCMs were happy to help with (their adorable little paws.)


    ¡°Alright, that looks like the last of it.¡± She nodded, as 1A locked the last piece into place and 1B¡­ managed to avoid hurting himself.


    Ignoring the narration in her head, she reattached her Scanner to her COMP and began testing the new data being gathered. ¡°Mm, looks like I¡¯m able to pick up the bits of metal and junk we¡¯ve got stashed in the drawers and cabinets¡­ but I can¡¯t really make out the details of what they look like beyond these vague little blobs.¡±


    (Just means we need a program to regulate the data a bit.) Her inner madness suggested helpfully (for once.) (Hey! I¡¯m plenty helpful!)


    (Debatable.)


    (Screw you.)


    ¡°Hmm, well if I upgrade Scan a bit I can probably rig it to be able to determine what a target is carrying without overloading the data parsing.¡± She said more to herself than to¡­ herself¡­


    (Didn¡¯t think that one through did you?)


    (Shut up.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Scanner upgraded to Mk. 1.4


    --Scanner can now tell what something is made of, and if something is hiding behind something else.


    -Thanks to LCM support 1 Electronic refunded.


    ---


    ¡°What are you all excited about?¡± She yawned wandering into the living room where all of her siblings were gathered around the TV.


    ¡°It¡¯s that time of the year!¡± Izzy yelled in excitement, earning an amused look from Tommy and an exasperated one from Vi.


    ¡°Uh, Halloween?¡± She blinked, knowing that there was something there she was missing. (There is?)


    (Oh, right, that thing!) Her inner madness said in an ¡®ah-ha!¡¯ kind of moment. (I completely forgot that that happens this time of year.)


    (What happens this time of year?) She frowned, turning her attention to the TV where a (hot)redhead had her arm around a monster of some kind. (Do you have to hit on everything that moves?)


    (I don¡¯t know, do you?)


    Shaking her head, she continued watching before it finally clicked that, ¡°This is an ad for that Dungeon thing that that one Wonderlander does each year.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, Izzy gets excited for this every year.¡± Tommy nodded with a soft grin despite still looking a little worn down after the last couple of weeks.


    ¡°Despite the fact that she knows she¡¯s not allowed to join in.¡± Vi added with a bit of a growl.


    ¡°What? Why not!¡± Izzy cried.


    ¡°Because you¡¯re like twelve and this thing is dangerous.¡± Vi explained, being the responsible eldest child. ¡°Honestly don¡¯t know why they¡¯re letting this thing slide, I mean it¡¯s run by one of the town¡¯s gangs.¡±


    ¡°It is?¡± She frowned, ignoring Izzy saying something about handing out powers, a thought that further scratched at the back of her mind.


    ¡°Yeah, this whole thing is some public Gamer¡¯s Guild event they throw each year.¡± Vi shrugged. ¡°Honestly, I think it¡¯s just a way for them to try and drum up new recruits or something.¡±


    ¡°Well that and the tourists,¡± Tommy pointed out. ¡°I actually think that¡¯s why the city ¡®s let it slide the last couple of years.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡±


    (Well, this is concerning.) Her inner reason admitted.


    (Especially since Izzy really wants to go to this thing.) She had to agree.


    (Eh, I doubt the rents ¡®ll let it slide after the shit with Tommy.) Her inner passion dismissed, before continuing with the fact that, (We might want to give it a look though.)


    (Why?) She couldn¡¯t help but ask herself.


    (Because this girl ¡®s clearly a friend of Decker, and might be up to the same kind of shady stuff.) Her inner madness explained, completely glossing over the actual reason of wanting to pick a fight with a fellow Deviant. (Oh, I¡¯m not hiding that at all. Especially not after the way Decker humiliated us the other month.)


    (Point.) She admitted, watching as the redhead leaned towards the camera with a mad grin on her face.


    ¡°-if you feel like trying your luck come on down to play. We guarantee one insanely good time!¡±


    (Well, that sounds like they¡¯re the ones picking a fight.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gamer¡¯s Guild Dungeon is now available until turn 75.

 Turn 61

    Turn 61


    --- Maya ---


    Seeing as she¡¯d arrived early to the M.A.D. club, she decided to use the time to try and work on remaking her COMP, only this time taking into account the various upgrades to its memory and power supply she¡¯d made.


    Of course in the process of remaking everything and cleaning everything up, she discovered that if she tweaked a few things she could actually restructure the COMP to have better processing power and storage. Something that would allow her to increase the maximum Memory of her COMP while also making it significantly easier for her COMP to run data oriented programs. (And more memory means more programs.)


    (Always useful to have options.) Her inner logic mentally nodded.


    (But wait!) Her inner madness cut in, before they could finalize that plan. (If we redo the wiring here with something thicker and rearrange that circuit there can¡¯t we increase our overall power capacity as well as how much power we can put into our energy programs!)


    (Hmm, she¡­ seems to be correct.) Her inner reason admitted, before pointing out that, (At the same time however, restructuring the wires and circuit in that way would prevent us from applying the necessary upgrades to the COMP¡¯s storage capacity.)


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She asked, pretty sure she could fit both if she increased the COMP¡¯s casing ever so slightly.


    (Not without adding a vent of some sort to the COMP.) Her inner logic argued. (Otherwise the heat from the wires and battery will cook all of the circuitry when we push the CPU for our data programs.)


    (And explosions may be cool, but they¡¯re less so two inches from our skin.) Her inner passion warned, in a rare bout of rationality. (I feel I should be offended.)


    Shaking her head she went over the bits and pieces of her COMP three times over, trying to prove the voices in her head wrong, before eventually coming to the (bitter) conclusion that they weren¡¯t.


    (You should never doubt us.) The madder voice in her head told her.


    (True.) The other voice agreed, before asking. (So, which will it be? Energy or Data? Memory or Power?)


    Scene Consequences


    -COMP has been upgraded to Mk. 2.0


    Please choose a version upgrade for the new COMP.


    []-Memory and Data: Increases COMP¡¯s max memory, and grants a bonus to all data based programs on the COMP.


    []-Power and Energy: Increases COMP¡¯s max power, and grants a bonus to all energy based programs on the COMP.


    ---


    Half way through her work on the COMP she had to set the device to the side as Melvin finally arrived for her lesson.


    ¡°Since you seemed so interested in all of our metal working yesterday, I figure we can continue from there with a more practical project.¡± Melvin told her as he picked up a few sheets of metal from the club¡¯s storage room.


    ¡°But I thought we were doing practical training yesterday when you gave me the welding torch?¡± She felt the need to point out.


    ¡°For most people that was a practical project.¡± The older M.A.D. admitted while handing her some of the smaller pieces. ¡°But for an M.A.D. a practical project is one where you actually build something.¡±


    (He is not wrong.) Her inner logic agreed.


    ¡°So what are we building then?¡± She asked, shifting her grip on the metal.


    ¡°One of the labs had their wall plating screw up so we¡¯re going to put your lessons yesterday into practice and fix it.¡± Melvin explained, exiting the storage room with several sheets of metal larger than her own.


    ¡°But uh, isn¡¯t that something they¡¯d want to fix on their own?¡± She had to ask, knowing that she¡¯d feel more comfortable if she was the one setting up the defenses for her own lab.


    ¡°It¡¯s Jim¡¯s lab.¡± Melvin answered in a dry tone.


    ¡°Ah.¡±


    (Nuff¡¯ said.)


    Scene Consequences


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    -Thanks to Melvins help gained 3XP to Metal Working


    --Currently: Lv. 4 (3/10)


    ---


    ¡°So, tell me what do you think about this whole¡­ ¡®dungeon¡¯ endeavor?¡± Ying asked, before reversing one of her strikes and locking her shoulder in place. ¡°Also point.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t trust it.¡± She admitted in frustration as the other girl released her.


    ¡°Oh, and pray tell, why not?¡± Ying questioned curiously. ¡°I figured the gaming aesthetic of it all would draw you in. Especially if I¡¯m remembering how you and Izzy tried to convince your parents to give it a run.¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh,¡± She winced, rolling her sore shoulder out as she tried to think of a response before eventually deciding to just go with the truth. ¡°That¡¯s before I realized the whole event is run by one of the city¡¯s Deviant gangs. The one rumored to put Slaver effects on their ¡®power-ups¡¯.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t actually sure if that was a rumor or not, but it (doesn¡¯t change the fact that we saw it with our own two eyes.)


    ¡°Hmm, that is true.¡± Ying nodded, before dismissing the concern because, ¡°given how the whole event is managed -at least in part- by the city, I doubt there¡¯s any serious cause for concern.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but give that a huff of amusement. ¡°Usually you¡¯re the cautious one, you can¡¯t tell me you seriously want to give the dungeon a run.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I can, because I do.¡± Ying argued with a smirk.


    ¡°But uh, what about your mom?¡± She frowned with some concern. ¡°Won¡¯t she, you know, throw a fit over this.¡±


    ¡°Who said I was going to tell her?¡± Ying scoffed, before starting another round of their spar. ¡°My time is my time to do with as I please.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­¡± She grimaced, unable to think of anything as she blocked a brutal roundhouse with her forearm. (Fuck, that stings.)


    (I think we may have stepped on a proverbial landmine.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Thanks to sparring with Ying gained 3XP to Fighting.


    --Currently: Lv. 6 (9/14)


    -Can now invite Ying to the Gamer Guild¡¯s Dungeon.


    --Note: Cannot use tech if Ying is invited to the Dungeon.


    ---


    After both her spar and putting the finishing touches on her COMP re-work, she found herself too exhausted to do anything that required much in the way of either mental or physical effort.


    Which is why she was laying in her bed as a stray thought reminded her of the fact that, (Hey, isn¡¯t Halloween right around the corner?)


    And she remembered that, (yes, yes it is.)


    As well as the random connection that, (Halloween is ghost season,) and the fact that, (don¡¯t we technically have a ghost in the basement?)


    (...)


    (...)


    (...)


    ¡°Fuck!¡± She cursed sitting up and pulling out her phone as she began pulling up everything she could about the massacre at Beacon Hospital and the ghost there of. (Because knowing our luck that ¡®ll be the day she starts acting up.)


    This hunch was proven extremely likely due to the fact that it turned out said massacre happened on Halloween. (Meaning ghost girl is going to be pissed on that day.)


    (Hmm, perhaps we should avoid going near the hospital on Halloween.) Her inner reason suggested.


    (And abandon our babies for the day? Fuck no!) Her inner maternal instincts denied.


    (We could always take them out of the hospital?) Her inner logic tried to compromise.


    (And take our babies away from the only home they know? Fuck no!) Her inner insanity refused.


    ¡°Moving the minions for that day is actually a decent idea.¡± She cut into the voices argument with just a touch of frustration as she found a list of victims from the massacre (though I can¡¯t remember what the ghost girl actually looks like so fat lot of good it does me.)


    Shaking her head at that unhelpful revelation, she decided to attempt herding the cats that were the voices in her head. ¡°Look, if the ghost girl really does get loose, she¡¯ll probably trash everything that she thinks doesn¡¯t belong in the hospital. So we¡¯d have to deal with it one way or another to keep her from trashing all of our stuff. And all of that¡¯s before the fact that we probably have to deal with whatever is in the hell wing too.¡±


    (Ah, yes¡­ That is something we should be concerned with as well.) Her inner reason admitted with a mental grimace. (If there is something sinister lurking in that wing, it could cause just as much damage if not more than the ghost girl.)


    (Uh, yeah¡­ But we kind of have to, you know, go into the haunted and hell wings to actually do anything about those.) Her inner madness pointed out. (Which while having my vote for being batshit insane, loses it for pushing even my survival instincts.)


    (Well it wouldn¡¯t be too dangerous if we managed to hire a Hunter to help us.) Her inner logic offered, her own survival instincts warning away from the mess at the hospital.


    ¡°Can¡¯t do that, not without setting us back on the thing with Tommy.¡± She groaned, realizing that she probably shouldn¡¯t have just ignored the ghosts and demons in her hospital for the last two months. (Don¡¯t rub it in.)


    (You kind of deserve it though.)


    ¡°Hey you forgot about it too!¡± She growled.


    (But I reminded you about it!) Her inner passion argued. (And I¡¯m not the one driving this bitch either!)


    ¡°Did you just call me a bitch?!¡±


    (I was actually talking about our body, but that works too.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya has learned more about the Ghost of Beacon Hospital.


    -Can now explore the Beacon Mental Ward and -to speed things up- the Alchemilla wing.

 Turn 62

    Turn 62


    --- Maya ---


    (Hmm¡­ Is this really the best use of our time?) Her inner reason felt the need to ask. (Especially with how much we seem to have on our plate at the moment.)


    ¡°Which is exactly why I¡¯m knocking this stuff out now, before we enter crunch time.¡± She told herself, attaching a few more storage units to her Server Farm.


    (I suppose that makes sense.) Her inner logic was forced to admit.


    (Still feels like wasting time on this is going to bite us in the ass.) Her inner passion pointed out, far less politely than how her inner reason would¡¯ve put it. (Your problem, not mine.)


    ¡°Yes, this seems like a waste of time.¡± She admitted more to shut the voices up than anything else. ¡°But I need more space if I want to upgrade the DMs and back them up, and I need to do that if want to have a decent resource income while we¡¯re focused on everything else.¡±


    (Wait. Hold up. Is that what you were working on all day?!) Her inner madness cried. (You want to send our babies out on their own?!)


    ¡°Yes.¡± She sighed, knowing this was going to be a whole thing with herself. ¡°And it¡¯s not that bad, we¡¯ve dropped DM-1 off several times to collect scrap for us.¡±


    (Yeah, but that was when we could have him hide out in the train cars!) Her inner passion practically yelled. (Based on what you were writing this morning they¡¯ll have to make the trip back to the hospital on their own, and there¡¯s no telling what could happen between here and there!)


    ¡°Okay, yes there is a chance of the DMs running into trouble while traveling between here and the trainyard.¡± She agreed. ¡°But if they only travel at night, and they take advantage of their stealth protocols they should be fine. Especially if they work together to keep hidden, and keep an eye on everything.¡±


    (Ah, so one carries the supplies while the other scouts.) Her inner reason pieced together, having remembered several pieces of code even if not as much as their more insane half.


    (Third technically.) Her inner madness pointed out, before mentally shaking her head. (Anyway I thought that was for like guard protocols or some shit so they could keep an eye on the hell halls or something.)


    ¡°No¡­ but that¡¯s not a bad idea to work on later.¡± She admitted, making a mental note to add that to the idea pool as she made her way back to her computer to finish the protocol updates, leaving the last few bits of wiring to the LCMs.


    Scene Consequences


    -Server Farm upgraded to Mk. 1.2


    --Max Base Memory increased to 40.


    -Thanks to LCM assist 1 Electronic refunded.


    ---


    ¡°Alright, so how are you two feeling?¡± She asked, checking the DMs over after installing their latest protocol updates.


    ¡°Okay.¡± DM-2 answered, seeming to fidget in place a bit more than usual. (Though given how shaky she usually is, I honestly can¡¯t tell for sure.)


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°Want move!¡± DM-1 told her, jumping off the lab table and skittering around on the floor.


    (Definitely more fidgety.) Her inner reason noted with wry amusement.


    ¡°Right¡­ I guess that would be a side effect of the pathing sub-protocols.¡± She admitted before shaking her head and checking the time. (Almost nine, so just after sunset.)


    Nodding to herself she herded DM-1 into place next to DM-2 before telling them, ¡°Alright, your newest protocols should make it easier for you two to find your way home if I leave you outside. So what we¡¯re going to do now is, I¡¯m going to walk you two to the trainyard, and then you two are going to use that path and your stealth sub-protocols to travel between the trainyard and the hospital each night with whatever scrap you two ¡®ve gathered alright?¡±


    Both of her faithful little drones gave her a nod of confirmation, even if DM-2¡¯s came a moment later and was just ever so slightly more hesitant than DM-1¡¯s. (Leave her alone, she¡¯s just cautious.)


    (Huh, wonder where she got that from.) Her inner reason couldn¡¯t help but wonder, knowing full well DM-2 didn¡¯t get it from either of her other counterparts.


    (Fuck you too.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Drone Protocols upgraded to V1.5


    --Drones can now bring supplies back to the base on their own at a reduced pace.


    ---Currently gathers 2 (resource) per Turn.


    ---


    ¡°Now you¡¯ve both got the path memorized?¡± She checked, less because she didn¡¯t trust the minions and more because¡­


    (And don¡¯t forget to make sure they know not to talk to strangers!) Her inner passion told her.


    (I¡¯m pretty sure we programmed them to avoid strangers altogether.) She reminded herself with some exasperation.


    (But what if those strangers offer them candy?!) Her inner madness asked. (We never taught them not to take candy from strangers!)


    (They¡­ They don¡¯t possess taste¡­ or digestive systems.)


    (Oh no we never gave them a sense of taste! We¡¯re a horrible mother!)


    (Right, we¡¯ve reached my crazy threshold.) She sighed, before shaking her head and turning back to her two little drones.


    ¡°Alright, now this is a big responsibility I¡¯m giving you two and while it¡¯s important, I want you to remember your safety is more important.¡± She told them. ¡°So if at any point either of you feel like it¡¯s getting too risky to be making these trips you¡¯re free to stay at the hospital until you feel safe again, alright?¡±


    ¡°Alright!¡± DM-1 nodded with determination.


    ¡°Okay, mam¨¢.¡± DM-2 nodded more shyly.


    (Which reminds me.) ¡°Now DM-1 this is tu hermanita¡¯s first real mission, so I want you to watch out for her and keep her safe, you hear me?¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± DM-1 saluted. ¡°Murder all threats!¡±


    She did everything in her power to not react to that.


    (That¡¯s mi chico!)


    Inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, she stiffly suggested that, ¡°Fleeing is the priority. That way you don¡¯t get hurt either.¡±


    (Aww¡­)


    ¡°Aww¡­¡±


    (I figured you would be more supportive of that one.)


    (I will never get in the way of our children¡¯s attempts to be badass!) Her inner passion argued. (Especially since they¡¯re theoretically immortal.)


    (Then why are you so worried about leaving them here?) She felt compelled to ask.


    (Because my babies are growing up!) Her inner maternal instincts cried.


    (You know part of me is legitimately scared of how we¡¯re going to react to our more¡­ organic kids physically growing up.)


    (...)


    (...)


    (...)


    (Maya, add eternal youth to the to-do list.)


    Scene Consequences


    -DM-1 and DM-2 will now bring 2 Scrap to the base each Turn.


    --Note: There is a small chance of being discovered each turn, and Teamwork bonus is currently dedicated to increasing Stealth on Checks.

 Turn 63

    Turn 63


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Alright, so we need something new to work with¡­¡± She told her other selves as she began brainstorming a new energy type to work on.


    (I don¡¯t quite understand why we need to brainstorm a new energy when we already have ideas for several.) Her inner reason pointed out. (We already have ice, light, and kinetics on the list. What other ideas are there?)


    ¡°That¡¯s the point of brain storming.¡± She reminded herself. ¡°And¡­ if we can have a negative heat, why can¡¯t we have a negative ¡®light¡¯? See new ideas incoming.¡±


    (We¡­ don¡¯t know how to manipulate light though.)


    ¡°Yet. We don¡¯t know how to manipulate light yet.¡± She argued. ¡°And figuring out darkness can¡¯t be that much harder.¡±


    (I feel like we¡¯d be working backwards at that point.) Her inner reason admitted.


    ¡°Eh, I¡¯m sure the whispers can figure something out.¡± She dismissed the concern while beginning to type.


    (You do understand that if you don¡¯t give them direction, the one in charge of corralling the whispers is the¡­ other one.)


    She paused to consider that.


    (~We gonna blow it up with ice, we gonna blow it up with light, then we gonna throw it in a big black hole, as we bend physics over~)


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    (~Then we gonna blow up the whole big planet~)


    ¡°Perfectly fine.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -(???) Energy (1/2)


    A/N: At Maya¡¯s current level there are 4 possible energies she can unlock via random roll. (Light, Kinetics, Cold, and Shadows) if you guys research random again I¡¯ll roll the dice, otherwise you can pick a specific energy type from the menu to focus on.


    ---


    Having finally decided to deal with the ghost in the basement, as well as holding the knowledge that the Slaver she was looking for used magic, she decided to try seeing if she could discover anything of value to the two subjects before attempting to go spelunking in the hospital depths.


    Given how it was a more long term problem, she decided to start with the Arcane problem just in case she forgot anything about the first topic while studying the second. Something she didn¡¯t wish to risk just before possibly picking a fight with said Deadman.


    Initially she thought that perhaps by better understanding how the Arcane manipulate Anima that maybe she could apply some of the science to her own programs. Unfortunately, after a couple of hours spent looking into the Arcane she discovered that, ¡°these dumbasses want to scattershot science and pretend they understand this garbage!¡±


    (I¡¯m sure there¡¯s some science to it given how people can learn to use it.) Her inner reason tried to assure her.


    ¡°Oh, I thought the same thing when they started with how physics relate to music and color theory, but then they also started throwing in this garbage about symbolism and how magic differs between psych profiles and neuro activity.¡± She raged.


    (Uh, that all sounds science-y.)


    ¡°Yes it does.¡± She admitted in a kind tone before scowling. ¡°Which is the problem! It ¡®sounds¡¯ sciency, but none of this stuff actually has a science to it!¡±


    (Perhaps it¡¯s a subjective matter? Where it holds true but at the same time it varies person to person?) Her inner logic suggested.


    ¡°Science isn¡¯t subjective, it is fact.¡± She growled. ¡°And these assholes are trying to pretend they actually study and understand something, just like hipsters do coffee and art!¡±


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    (Well¡­ You must¡¯ve learned something of value after so much reading.) Her inner reason tried.


    ¡°Yeah, I learned Arcane are dumbasses and M.A.D.s are superior in every way.¡± She scoffed. ¡°Also since they¡¯re ¡®subjective¡¯ about everything, they have like a stupid number of ways to do everything. Like why do you need twenty different ways to start a fire when combustion is a simple enough process!¡±


    (Because fire is worth it.)


    ---


    Coming to the conclusion that trying to research the Arcane was going to prove less than useful due to their obsession with twisting everything scientific with a bunch of spiritual bullshit, she instead moved onto the subject that would prove more immediately useful to her.


    (So how exactly are we going to research Deadmen without watching a Romero flick?) Her inner madness asked with a valid point.


    ¡°Eh, we can probably just skim the wiki.¡± It was mildly embarrassing to admit that¡¯d wussed out after a few newsclips rather than actually researching them, (but I can make up for that now.)


    From what she could gather, Deadmen were people who died and were then resurrected due to exposure to Ectoplasm. Which was some sort of extra-dimensional non-newtonian fluid from the Deadlands, which was some kind of radioactive hell dimension connected to theirs at multiple points around the world. (Lovely¡­)


    (I feel like you might be over-summarizing that description a bit.) Her inner reason warned mildly.


    (People die, they become cannibals, and then they move to the Deadlands.) Her inner passion argued. (All of that sounds like a hell dimension to me.)


    Regardless, she also discovered that Deadmen existed on a spectrum of physical to meta-physical based on how much of their body was comprised of ectoplasm vs their actual corpse. Where a Deadman placed on this spectrum was something of an indicator to which kind of abilities they could obtain with the more ectoplasmic ones possessing more ¡®ghost-y¡¯ powers while the corpses had more physical ones.


    (So that means we¡¯ve just got to figure out if the ghost-zombie in the basement is more ghost or zombie, right?)


    (I suppose that would give us a decent indicator of how we should handle it.) Her inner logic agreed, making a note to keep an eye out for what few indicators the wiki listed for marking a Deadman¡¯s place on the spectrum.


    Noting that she was starting to run low on time if she wanted to investigate the mental ward before her curfew, she decided to read one last page, which turned out to be a confusing psych-paper on Deadmen and their Obsessions.


    ¡°So according to this, every Deadman has an Obsession, something that drives them and holds their ectoplasm together. If a Deadman loses their Obsession or feels like it¡¯s being threatened then they will attack whatever is threatening it.¡± She tried to summarize.


    (Meaning if we can discover why the girl in the basement is attacking us we might be able to reason with her.) Her inner reason realized.


    (Uh, yeah, but she¡¯d still be a cannibalistic ghost zombie.) Her inner madness pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah, I mean why exactly would we trust that?¡± She wondered, fully aware of how dangerous that could be to her health.


    Her inner logic gave the simple answer of, (Ghost waifu.)


    She blinked before frowning. ¡°That¡¯s not a valid reas-¡±


    (Bitch, the fuck you say?! You need to get your priorities straight chica!)


    Scene Consequences


    -New Skill: Arcane Appraisal Lv. 1 (0/4) and Dead Details Lv. 1 (0/4)


    -A/N: Given the context and plan I tweaked the study topics a bit to give both of these skills instead of just unlocking the Arcane skill and putting an extra XP into it. That said each of these skills provide a (Mental) bonus to things when interacting with the corresponding deviancy. (Perks may offer additional bonuses against their preferred targets.)


    ---


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ve got everything together.¡± She told herself secure the last bit of her equipment, as she attempted to stall out going through the doors in front of her. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t call me out! You¡¯d be stalling too if you were in my position!¡±


    (She¡¯s not wrong.) Her inner madness admitted, before asking, (So how exactly are we handling this?)


    ¡°Right, so¡­ options¡­¡± She began slowly stalling out her words. ¡°Fine! We¡¯ve got like three ways to handle this. We can try sneaking through the asylum to see if we can figure out what the ghost¡¯s obsession is before running into her, or we can just pick a fight with her and take her down.¡±


    (Or perhaps we can attempt to open a dialogue with her before we do something to possibly agitate her.) Her inner reason suggested.


    ¡°Dios mio¡­¡± She groaned. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me this is about that stupid ghost waifu plan you two have.¡±


    (Honestly, thinking about it, it wouldn¡¯t work.)


    ¡°Thank you!¡±


    (Maya ¡®s too much of a bisexual disaster.)


    ¡°Wha- Fuck you!¡±


    (Yeah¡­ That¡¯s not going to happen anytime soon.)


    She bit her lip before forcing down a number of insults at the (stupid voice in my head that¡¯s not even real.)


    (Hey! We do not use the R word here!)


    Shaking her head, she forced herself away from the distraction that was her own insanity and put her hand on the doors to the mental ward, before pushing them open and stepping into the haunted hospital halls.

 Haunted Hospital Halls (Pt.1)

    Haunted Hospital Halls (Pt. 1)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°I really can¡¯t believe I let you two talk me into this¡­¡± She groaned, walking -(not sneaking)- through the mental ward.


    (Yes, let the power of the waifu compel you¡­)


    ¡°This isn¡¯t about your stupid waifu garbage!¡± She growled. ¡°This is about the fact that this ghost is probably a victim of that massacre and is now stuck here. If we want to be a hero we should at least try to help her out¡­ No matter how bad of an idea it is¡­¡±


    (A good attitude to have.) Her inner reason agreed.


    (Except for that part about waifu¡¯s being garbage.)


    (Oh. Yes. That opinion is simply illogical.)


    ¡°You¡¯re both insane.¡± She sighed.


    (Given how you¡¯re talking to the voices in your head, you have no room to judge, chica.)


    ¡°Why am I the only M.A.D. that has to deal with this shit¡­¡± She groaned in mental agony. ¡°I know for a fact no one at the club deals with voices in their head.¡±


    (Statistically speaking, you likely aren¡¯t the only M.A.D. with voices in their head.) Her inner logic felt the need to point out.


    (Yeah, who knows, maybe everyone else at the club just hides their crazy from each other like you do.) Her inner madness agreed.


    (That is¡­ significantly less likely.)


    (You never know.)


    Shaking her head, she gave the area around them a once over. ¡°Alright¡­ I think this is the area we saw the ghost last time.¡±


    (Are you sure? That was a fair while ago.)


    ¡°No idea, but I¡¯m not really comfortable going any deeper into the haunted mental ward.¡± She admitted with no shame.


    (The power of the waifu demands you continue on!)


    ¡°Yeah, no.¡± She refused, before sighing. ¡°So, given how she attacked us last time, how exactly are we supposed to get the ghost girl¡¯s attention?¡±


    (I suppose the easiest way would be to try calling for her.)


    ¡°So what just say, ¡®ghost I want to talk to you!¡¯?¡± She paused, genre savviness saying the ghost would appear any second now.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    (Or the moment we drop our guard about her showing up.)


    ¡°Or then¡­¡± She conceded with a sigh, before running a hand through her hair. ¡°So what exactly am I supposed to say once she shows up, anyway?¡±


    (Will you be my waifu?)


    Cringing, she took a deep breath before letting it out. ¡°Actual suggestions please.¡±


    (But that was an actual suggestion¡­)


    (Perhaps we should inquire as to why she¡¯s remained at this hospital for so long?)


    ¡°Maybe, though if that ties into her death it probably won¡¯t go all that well for us.¡± She pointed out. ¡°I mean that just seems like a landmine topic.¡±


    (True¡­ But at the same time broaching that topic might be the only way we can help her.) Her inner reason argued.


    ¡°Ugh, this is going to end in disaster¡­¡± She groaned once more.


    ¡°Heh-heh, why are you talking to yourself?¡±


    ¡°Because I need to figure out what we¡¯re going to do about-¡± She froze, noticing two ghastly green eyes just inches from her own. ¡°you¡­¡±


    ¡°mE?¡± The ghost girl asked in a staticy tone as her eyes began to glow.


    ¡°Yes.¡± She squeaked, regretting her lifechoices.


    (Huh¡­ maybe simping for the cannibalic ghost zombie wasn¡¯t a good idea¡­)


    (...)


    (Do I really need to explain this?!)


    The pale woman grabbed her by the throat and began to choke her.


    (Yeah, you¡¯re right. No regrets.)


    (I fucking hate you.)


    ¡°sO tElL mE WhaT aRe yoU gOiNg To dO aBoUt mE?¡± The Deadwoman smiled.


    ¡°Thish.¡± She ground out, shoving her hand cannon into the zombie¡¯s face before firing off a burst of electricity.


    The Deadwoman screamed before flying away from her and crashing into one of the walls further down the corridor.


    ¡°Fu-uck.¡± She coughed, rubbing at her throat. ¡°I can¡­ still feel her hand¡­¡±


    She shook her head and forced herself onto her feet before her inner madness could throw out any other stupid thoughts. Deciding that it was far more important to prioritize the revelation of, (electricity hurts the ghost¡­ Good to know.)


    ¡°Now¡­ where did that bitch run off to?¡± She growled, loading another electrical charge into her hand cannons as she started in the same direction the Deadwoman had flown off in.


    It didn¡¯t even take her five steps to locate the ghost, though that was less because of any tracking ability on her part, and more because the girl hadn¡¯t gone all that far. As indicated by the faint whimpering of the ghost girl now curled up into a ball while rocking back and forth and whimpering, ¡°I¡¯ll be a good girl, I¡¯ll be a good girl, I¡¯ll be a good girl.¡±


    ¡°What the fuck?¡± She whispered, trying to connect the broken girl in front of her with the violent Deadman from a few moments ago.


    Shifting to walk around the ghost girl, her foot ended up kicking something that had fallen off of a toppled medical cart, causing the ghost to flinch violently.


    Frowning, she glanced at the device on the ground before picking it up and grimacing as the ghost cowered even further away. Deciding to take a chance she prodded the whispers in her head a bit before getting them to explain that the device was just a part of a machine that was likely intended to conduct small and borderline painless electrical shocks.


    Blinking, she glanced at the (dead) girl in front of her, before her eyes drifted to the (mental ward) around her, then the (electrical) device in her hand, and finally back to the (cowering) girl that she¡¯d just (electrocuted.)


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± The device fell from her hand. ¡°Oh shit¡­¡±

 Haunted Hospital Halls (End)

    Haunted Hospital Halls (End)


    --- Maya ---


    (Fuck, fuck, fuck, what am I doing?!)


    Grimacing, she kicked the electrotherapy device away from her while also undoing the straps on her Hand Cannons and tossing them out of sight but still close enough that she could rush them in a pinch.


    ¡°Okay, look, the, uh, the electrical stuff is gone.¡± She told the cowering ghost girl, trying to keep her voice calm while ignoring the little voice telling her that this was a bad idea. (If that really is one of you guys I could use a hand here¡­)


    For once her head was silent, neither her voice of madness nor her voice of reason responding. (Fuck I¡¯m on my own¡­)


    ¡°I¡¯m uh, I¡¯m sorry about¡­¡± She winced, cutting herself off as the ghost girl flinched away from her. (Okay, don¡¯t bring up the electrocuting her thing. Easy.)


    Forcing herself to keep calm, she slowly sat a few feet away from the ghost girl while trying to figure out how exactly she was supposed to talk to a trauma victim. (A skill I really fucking need to work on¡­)


    Running her hand down her face, or at least trying to, she felt her mask. Something that probably didn¡¯t help her with the whole ¡®I¡¯m not going to hurt you¡¯ vibe she was going for. Which is why she undid the straps to it so that the ghost girl could see her face.


    ¡°Um, uh, my name ¡®s Maya.¡± She introduced with a weak smile as she tried to come up with something (anything) to say. ¡°I¡¯m uh, I¡¯m staying in the hospital upstairs with my, um, my kids.¡± She continued, figuring that that was the only ¡®safe¡¯ way to describe her minions.


    The ghost girl looked at her, still clearly scared, but at the very least no longer mumbling about being a ¡®good girl¡¯.


    ¡°I¡¯ve uh, I¡¯ve got four of them.¡± She admitted hesitantly. ¡°There¡¯s uh, there¡¯s my oldest DM-1 -I know I¡¯m not the best with names- He¡¯s a bit arrogant since he¡¯s the oldest, and he has a tendency to pick fights with others, but at the same time he¡¯s super protective of his younger siblings. Doing everything he can to keep them safe and make sure they know what they need to know to survive.¡±


    ¡°Then there were my twins LCM-1A and 1B. 1A is my little genius, smartest of all my kids even if he¡¯s a little bossy to his siblings at times.¡± She smiled. ¡°And while 1B might not be my smartest, he¡¯s always there to support his brother and me when we need help. Heck, I think both of them want to follow in my footsteps if the way they¡¯re always tinkering with my things is any sign.¡±


    ¡°DM-2 is my baby girl,¡± She laughed. ¡°She¡¯s a bit shy, or very shy I guess. But she¡¯s the sweetest of my kids happy to help when she can, and she¡¯s got three older brothers who love her and want to keep her happy and safe. I can¡¯t wait to see how she¡¯ll react to being a big sister.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ you want more kids?¡± The ghost girl asked quietly, causing her to blink as she considered the question.


    ¡°Yeah, I-I think so.¡± She nodded with a soft smile. ¡°I mean if you asked me a while back I would¡¯ve told you no, since I grew up in a big family myself, and I was never sure if I¡¯d have kids myself for a bunch of reasons. Not the least of which are my own¡­ issues¡­¡±


    ¡°Issues?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡­ I¡¯ve got these¡­ problems with my head¡­¡± She confessed just as quietly as the ghost. ¡°I hear voices in my head, have trouble focusing on just one thing at a time, and, and sometimes I just, I just feel so much at once that I¡­ I don¡¯t know, it¡¯s like I take everything and push it as far as it¡¯ll go, only for everything to break around me.¡±


    She wiped at her eyes, unable to stop. ¡°I-I mean, it wasn¡¯t as bad after they figured out my meds¡­ even if I don¡¯t take them as much as I should, since they make me feel like someone else half of the time and¡­ Honestly, thinking about it, I can¡¯t help but wonder if I was born just a decade or two earlier¡­ would, would they¡¯ve thrown me in a place like this too?¡±


    Silence was her only answer to a question that she¡¯d asked herself several times over the years spent going to doctors, sorting out her meds, and causing trouble for everyone around her. A question repeated every time she had a manic episode, lost control of her emotions, or turned rabid on some classmate that had pushed her too far.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°I have a kid too¡­¡± A quiet voice whispered.


    ¡°Hm?¡± She blinked, being drawn out of her thoughts. ¡°You¡­ have a kid?¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± The ghost girl who couldn¡¯t have been more than a couple of years older than her nodded. ¡°Because¡­ because I have¡­ problems, they took her away from me. They said, they said if I was a good girl, that I could see her again!¡±


    She swallowed hearing that, unsure of what she could say to that without making it worse.


    ¡°And, and I have been a good girl!¡± The ghost assured her. ¡°I¡¯m, I¡¯m in my room by nightfall and, and even though the nurses haven¡¯t brought us food, I haven¡¯t left the mental ward at all!¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t?¡± She asked, once more wondering how the deadman in front of her was maintaining herself despite having nothing to eat.


    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t!¡± The ghost nodded a madness clear in her toxic green eyes. ¡°It would hurt and I¡¯d get so hungry that I couldn¡¯t think, but, but then I¡¯d remember my little girl and I¡¯d, I¡¯d be a good girl and the hunger wouldn¡¯t be so bad. And, and it doesn¡¯t matter if I¡¯m hungry, because I can still see my little girl once the doctors see I¡¯m being a good girl!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± She licked her lips, as her throat became as dry as the desert. ¡°That¡¯s good¡­ that you¡¯re a, uh, good girl¡­¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh!¡± The ghost smiled before looking away nervously. ¡°And, and I¡¯m sorry I was bad¡­¡± Glowing green eyes jumped to her. ¡°Please don¡¯t tell the doctors! I¡¯ll do whatever you want, just please don¡¯t tell the doctors I was a bad girl!¡±


    ¡°I¡­ w-what do you mean?¡± She asked, her voice shaky.


    ¡°Good girls do what they¡¯re told and bad girls get zapped. Good girls do what they¡¯re told and bad girls get zapped.¡± The ghost girl told her, beginning to spiral once more.


    ¡°It was my fault!¡± She shouted, desperate to keep the Deadwoman in front of her from losing it again. ¡°You weren¡¯t a bad girl, but I¡­ I made a mistake and thought you were.¡±


    ¡°N-not a bad girl?¡± The ghost repeated not really understanding.


    ¡°That¡¯s right you were a good girl.¡± She told the other girl softly. ¡°You don¡¯t deserve to get zapped, not again.¡±


    ¡°Th-that¡¯s good.¡± The ghost nodded, seemingly in shock before her eyes once more jumped to Maya¡¯s. ¡°Does that mean I get to see my little meadow flower?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll, I¡¯ll talk to the doctors.¡± She lied, unable to suggest otherwise.


    ¡°R-really?!¡± The young mother smiled.


    ¡°I-I will, but it, it might take a while.¡± She warned the ghost.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± The other girl said despondently, all energy draining out of her. ¡°That¡¯s what all the nurses say¡­¡±


    Seeing the girl¡¯s glowing eyes dim to a dull glazed shade, she shivered feeling like she was looking into the eyes of something that was dead in all meanings of the word.


    ¡°W-well, I¡¯m not a nurse!¡± She told the Deadwoman. ¡°I¡¯m a hero!¡±


    ¡°A hero?¡± The ghost repeated not all there.


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± She nodded, forcing a smile onto her face. ¡°And a hero¡¯s job is to help whoever they can. And it sounds like you need help!¡±


    The Deadwoman didn¡¯t respond to her, causing her already tense smile to become even more brittle.


    ¡°Your name!¡± She realized. ¡°If I¡¯m going to talk to the doctors I uh, I need to know your name!¡±


    The ghost blinked a little too slowly before muttering, ¡°Elizabeth¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright, Elizabeth, I¡¯m Maya.¡± She introduced herself, before grimacing as she remembered she¡¯d already done that. ¡°And Elizabeth I¡¯m going to help you find your daughter.¡±


    Elizabeth blinked again, this time a little faster than before. ¡°Find my daughter?¡±


    ¡°I promise.¡± She nodded with another smile. ¡°I just, I just need you to be patient okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± Elizabeth agreed, though from the tone of her voice Maya wasn¡¯t actually sure how cognizant the ghost was at the moment.


    Feeling something cold and bitter inside of her chest, she swallowed down her building dread before promising that, ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a few days alright?¡±


    This time the Deadwoman didn¡¯t respond to her at all.


    Nodding once more she forced herself to her feet and made her way out of the mental ward.


    And the moment she was far enough away that she didn¡¯t think the young mother would see her, she collapsed against the wall with a choked sob.


    ¡°Oh god, I am so in over my head here¡­¡±


    She¡¯d known she could handle fighting the ghost or sneaking through the hospital, and she¡¯d thought she could handle talking with the ghost when the option became apparent, but (I was not ready for this shit!)


    It wasn¡¯t until she was actually dealing with Elizabeth that she¡¯d realized that the poor dead girl was¡­ (dead.) And that that had meant (she died¡­)


    And she definitely hadn¡¯t been prepared for the, the (fucking tradgedy) that she saw while talking with the other girl. What¡¯s more once the girl had begun spiraling into another panic attack she¡¯d made the (stupid) mistake of making a promise that she had no real way to deliver on.


    ¡°Fu-u-uck! What the fuck am I supposed to do now?¡±

 Turn 64

    Turn 64


    --- Maya ---


    After spending who knows how long sitting there, she forced herself to her feet and made her way back to her lab, only one thing on her mind at the moment.


    The moment she stumbled into her lab, where by some luck she found all of her minions (kids) as the LCMs were helping the DMs store away their latest haul of scrap. All four of her (kids) turned towards her and she felt something ping inside of her chest as she half-walked half-collapsed towards them before reaching out and pulling all four of her (kids) into her chest.


    With the four of them in her arms, her eyes started to water and DM-1, DM-2, 1A and 1B all began fidgeting over her trying to figure out what was wrong.


    ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong mis hijos.¡± She promised them, holding them just that little bit closer.


    For the most part she¡¯d always been split on whether they were just her minions or her kids as her inner passion called them. But after everything with Elizabeth and hearing how she¡¯d lost her own child, and then talking about her own kids, Maya found she didn¡¯t even want to consider what would happen if she lost one of her little minions.


    ¡°Mam¨¢ loves all of you,¡± she cried, ¡°you know that, right?¡±


    ---


    ¡°Are you alright mija?¡± Her own mam¨¢ asked after she¡¯d managed to stumble her way home from the hospital.


    ¡°I¡­¡± She swallowed before shambling over and hugging her mami. ¡°I really need a hug mami.¡±


    Her mami seemed to freeze before gently returning her hug.


    ¡°Te amo mami.¡± She mumbled into the hug.


    ¡°Yo tambi¨¦n te amo, cari?o.¡± Her mami returned gently stroking her hair.


    ---


    Finding herself unable to sleep, and getting tired of staring at the dark ceiling for hours on end, Maya quietly rolled out of bed before grabbing her laptop and sitting somewhere she wouldn¡¯t end up waking Izzy.


    Seeing as she promised to help Elizabeth, and that she had few other ideas on how, she began hacking into every local hospital to see if she could find wherever the Dead Woman¡¯s records had been transferred after the hospital had closed down.


    (If they transferred.) It was fully possible that Elizabeth had died long enough ago that her records hadn¡¯t been moved when the hospital¡¯s patients were scattered, but instead thrown away or left behind in the hospital. (In which case I¡¯ll have to find the administration section of the hospital.)


    A quick search revealed that Beacon Hospital¡¯s administration and archives had both been moved to the Alchemilla wing -(otherwise known as the hospital¡¯s hell wing)- after someone had tried to shoot up the old administration back in the nineties.


    (Shit¡­ Fuck, alright where else could those records end up?)


    (Given her death, perhaps the police would have something of value.) Her inner reason suggested, speaking up for the first time in nearly a day. (Apologies, but I just deviated enough to offer any counter insight.)


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She sighed, before going through her backdoors into the city¡¯s various precincts. An effort that proved futile when after an hour of shifting through old cases she¡¯d discovered a dozen or so dead Elizabeths in the city. None of which were the Deadwoman  she was looking for. ¡°Damn it¡­ This is getting me nowhere.¡±


    (Quite.) Her inner logic agreed. (As unfortunate as it is this investigation likely isn¡¯t to go much further without actual information from Elizabeth.)


    (Yeah, but given how emotional she was when we were talking, how much can she actually help us here?) She wondered to herself.


    (Given how we have no other leads? She¡¯s likely the only lead we¡¯ll be getting.)


    Scene Consequences


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    -Can now set Informant Network to search for more information on Elizabeth.


    -New Investigation options available.


    ---


    If any part of her had believed herself capable of sleeping once she had something resembling a plan of action, it slowly realized just how mistaken it was after another hour spent staring at the ceiling. (Well I could hope couldn¡¯t I?)


    Sighing to herself she once more snuck over to her laptop before taking it back to bed with her and throwing her covers over her and it so that the light wouldn¡¯t wake her sleeping sister. (After all I just got back into her good graces.)


    And so with little else to do she began working on the program she¡¯d started before her numerous revelations towards the hospital¡¯s resident ghost. A mindless sort of work that thanks to the whispers constant direction left her with little space to actually think about everything bothering her at the moment.


    At least until she finished the program and was presented with another problem.


    (Okay, how are we supposed to test this without waking Izzy?) From her work she was able to piece together that the whispers had been giving her a way to manipulate light photons within a certain range of her. Unfortunately this wasn¡¯t exactly an easy energy to play around with in the middle of the night without waking someone.


    (Perhaps we should hold off on testing our programs until tomorrow?) Her inner reason suggested.


    (What? No, I¡¯ve waited long enough for this!) Her inner madness refused, finally breaking away from the mainstream of their thoughts. (Well, sorry I¡¯m late getting back from our hiatus. At least I still showed up this chapter instead of next.)


    Closing her eyes, she briefly wondered what it¡¯d be like if she had any personality other than the insane one residing inside her mind.


    (Peaceful and on track for once?)


    (Nah, it¡¯d be half as funny and twice as boring.)


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m just going to ignore you two and test this now.¡±


    (Yay! Instant gratification for the win!)


    (Um, are you entirely sure this is a good idea?) Her inner logic asked in a vain attempt to dissuade her current course of action.


    (At least you¡¯re aware we aren¡¯t going to listen to you.) Her inner passion consoled. (Now Maya, hit the switch!)


    She clicked a button to run her new energy type through her COMP before a sudden flash of light erupted beneath her covers burning her eyes, and causing her to topple off of her bed in a shriek of agony.


    ¡°Maya?¡± Izzy called half asleep. ¡°Wha happened?¡±


    ¡°Rolled off my bed and hit my head.¡± She admitted in half-truth, not wanting to admit to accidentally injuring herself due to her own impatience and recklessness.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Izzy yawned before seeming to settle back into her bed. ¡°You need to stop doing that.¡±


    (Yes¡­ Yes we do¡­) Her survival instincts sighed.


    Scene Consequences


    -Unlocked Light Energy Manipulation.


    --Program Synergy: Burst ()- Light Burst will trigger a flash of light, possibly blinding nearby enemies while also dealing light damage to those caught in the immediate blast.


    ---(Status Effect: Blinded: Reduce all Reflex stats by a small amount, this penalty is doubled for the Perception stat.)


    ---


    ¡°Mija, how are you feeling?¡± Her mam¨¢ asked the moment the rest of her siblings were distracted. ¡°You don¡¯t look like you slept all that well.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I, uh, I didn¡¯t.¡± She nodded, pawing at her still heavy eyes.


    ¡°Is everything alright?¡± Her mam¨¢ frowned in concern. ¡°I know you didn¡¯t feel up to talking about it last night, but it¡¯s not like you to¡­¡± (breakdown like a little bitch) ¡°get that upset about something.¡±


    She was about to deny being upset about anything, before remembering everything with Elizabeth and her daughter as well as her own feelings towards her kids and her mother.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m okay, but not?¡± She tried instead. ¡°Yesterday I met this¡­ girl I guess, and one thing led to another and she ended up talking about all of this stuff and¡­ it just messed me up I guess¡­¡±


    Her mam¨¢ bit her lip for a moment before putting an arm around Maya¡¯s shoulders and asking, ¡°What did she talk to you about?¡±


    ¡°She um, well she told me that apparently she¡¯s a mother¡­ or was a mother¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± She chuckled solemnly, leaning into her mami¡¯s touch. ¡°I don¡¯t think, or know if she meant to tell me as much as she did but it um¡­ Hearing the way she talked about her kid it uh, it messed me up, and I¡­ I just really needed a hug¡­ From you specifically.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± Her mam¨¢ stopped herself before wrapping her other arm around her. ¡°I¡¯m, I¡¯m sorry for your friend mija. Losing a child, it¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s something I don¡¯t even want to imagine. The mess at the summer festival, and everything with Tommy¡­ That¡¯s already more than I can handle. And honestly something I feel like you¡¯re too young to have to deal with this kind of thing either. But at the same time this, this isn¡¯t a problem that we can deal with beyond trying to be there for your friend¡­ Just like I¡¯m always going to be here for you.¡±


    ¡°I know mami.¡±


    Her mam¨¢ kissed her forehead before pulling back a little bit. ¡°Hey, since it¡¯s Friday and you¡¯re not feeling all that well, how about you stay home from school today?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t¡­ I¡¯m not that messed up.¡± She told her mam¨¢ while wiping at her eyes.


    ¡°Maybe not but¡­ when was the last time we had a day just you and me?¡± Her mam¨¢ asked.


    She blinked. ¡°Um¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s been a while.¡± Her mam¨¢ agreed with a sad smile. ¡°So, why don¡¯t you take the day off and we¡¯ll both stay home and just watch TV, eat ice cream, and whatever else we feel like.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I think I¡¯d like that.¡± She admitted quietly.


    Her mother pulled her in for another hug. ¡°So would I mija.¡±

 Turn 65

    Turn 65


    --- Maya ---


    Her Scan() program was an incredibly useful tool. It had the ability to take any information she ran through it and scour the internet and her Informant Network() for similar things. All while quantifying the physical makeup of the things she scanned into a handy little number that told her the object¡¯s breaking point.


    Unfortunately this powerful informational tool had several drawbacks, such as its inability to actually store or save any of the information it gathered. Instead deleting said data the moment a second Scan() was used.


    Which is why with the time she had before her weekly lessons at the M.A.D. club she was working to fix this sizable flaw in a way that wouldn¡¯t devour the entirety of her COMP¡¯s memory capacity.


    (What if we create a temporary data cache to store everything we¡¯ve scanned, while clearing it on a timer?) Her inner reason suggested.


    ¡°That could work but we¡¯d have to create a way of locking in Scan data of stuff we want to remember.¡± She pointed out.


    (Well we could create a secondary database for priority targets.) Her inner madness suggested in one of her rare instances of helpfulness. (Fuck you too.)


    ¡°Actually, if we¡¯re going to create a secondary database for priority targets, I¡¯ve got an idea for a sort of combat database.¡±


    (You mean an enemy bestiary?)


    (Likely more of an enemy given how most of our enemies will prove human in the world of masks.) Her inner logic corrected.


    (Right, we¡¯re the ones who¡¯ll be beastin¡¯.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Scan() Data Parsing progress (1/2)


    ---


    ¡°So what exactly were you working on before I showed up?¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh, I¡¯ve got this scanning program but it has some parsing issues I¡¯m working on.¡± She shrugged, while holding a piece of metal in place for Melvin.


    ¡°Uh-huh. Kim was telling me you had some kind of electronic scanner thing.¡± Melvin nodded. ¡°Which makes me wonder why you want so much help with metalworking instead of electronics?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡±


    (Shit he knows!) Her inner madness yelled.


    (Don¡¯t panic. He might just be curious.) Her inner reason argued.


    ¡°I need better tools than I¡¯ve got to work on what I want.¡± She half-lied as calmly as she could. ¡°I¡¯m hoping once I¡¯ve got a better handle on all of this, I¡¯ll be able to actually work on my stuff.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­ you know you can just borrow tools from the club right?¡± Melvin asked, seemingly believing her.


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­ it¡¯s not the same thing as working with something I made myself, you know?¡±


    ¡°Eh, I can get that.¡± Her fellow M.A.D. admitted. ¡°Even with the club''s tools I still prefer to work with the things I made myself. There¡¯s just that minute sort of precision you can¡¯t get unless you made them yourself.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± She nodded emphatically. ¡°I mean, I know the tools I¡¯m using now are kind of crap, and they waste a ton of metal that I don¡¯t need to, but at the same time I can do shit with them that I know I can¡¯t do with the store bought junk I raided from my dad¡¯s toolbox.¡±


    Melvin gave her a snort of amusement at that. ¡°Yeah, I remember when I went through my own toolbox raiding phase. Took me four whole months to work my way out of it, all while my old man was trying to figure out what the hell was going on.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t realize you were an M.A.D.?¡± She asked without thinking about her own situation with her parents.


    ¡°Nah, I first started sparking back when Sanctuary and the Heroes¡¯ Guild were first getting off the ground. Most people didn¡¯t even know what a Deviant was back then, just that you didn¡¯t want to be one.¡± Melvin admitted with a shrug. ¡°Honestly, didn''t figure it out myself until a few years later. And by then the worst of the riots were over, so it wasn¡¯t too big of a deal.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡±


    ¡°Hey, keep your hands steady. The metal is starting to drift.¡± Melvin told her.


    ¡°Sorry!¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 3XP to Metalworking


    --Currently: Lv. 4 (7/10)


    ---


    Despite her determination to help Elizabeth as much as she possibly could, Maya was aware of the fact that there were several long term problems that she¡¯d have to address with the asylum patient.


    The most prominent of which being the fact that all Deadmen (and women) were known to need to eat living people to survive.


    Now of course Maya was fully aware after her previous conversation with Elizabeth that she would require a certain¡­ delicacy that she lacked with her regularly blunt and hotblooded nature.


    Which is why she was currently scouring the internet for anything and everything related to how to talk to a victim of a crime. Something that while not entirely accurate to her current situation, was likely as close as she could get without flagging herself to Sanctuary.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Thanks to her previous attempts to talk to people (both honest and dishonest) as well as a few of the things Ying had told her during her various rants on the social hierarchy, she was able to take the majority of her findings and boil down to a few universal (and kind of obvious) tips for dealing with those recovering from an emotionally stressful experience.


    The most pertinent of these being to try to remain calm and patient with whoever you¡¯re talking about, while reminding them that the things that had happened to them were not their fault, and also attempting to keep the victim¡¯s ego and confidence stable with a steady stream of assurances that they were handling things as well as anyone could be expected in their situation, all while actively avoiding any triggers related to their ¡®trauma¡¯ incident.


    With any luck as long as she maintained these habits, she could hopefully keep a steady dialogue going with Elizabeth long enough for her to actually help the Deadwoman to complete her unfinished business.


    (Here¡¯s hoping this is enough.)


    Scene Consequences


    -New Skill: Emphatic Speech- This skill increases the ability of the user to talk to people who are emotionally stressed/delicate without setting them off.


    --Due to overlapping skills and previous experience gained 5XP


    --Currently: Lv. 2 (1/6)


    ---


    Once more standing outside of Elizabeth¡¯s wing of the hospital, Maya forcibly steeled herself as she prayed this meeting would turn out better than her previous meeting with the Deadwoman.


    (Remember: Keep calm. Remain patient. And stay kind.)


    (And don¡¯t bring up the fact that we electrocuted her like her past abusers.)


    (That, unfortunately, too¡­)


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She nodded with a sigh before pushing the doors to the mental wing of the hospital open and making her way to the area where the Deadwoman could usually be found.


    ¡°Um, Elizabeth!¡± She called, having been half expecting the Deadwoman to jump scare her again. ¡°Elizabeth are you here?¡±


    (Where else would she be?)


    (Hush.)


    ¡°Maybe she¡¯s asleep?¡± She tried, not actually sure if Deadmen needed to sleep.


    (Perhaps she¡¯s simply not in a talking mood?) Her inner reason suggested.


    ¡°Maybe¡­¡± She sighed, turning back the way she¡¯d come.


    ¡°Maya!¡± A set of glowing green eyes greeted her from less than an inch away.


    ¡°Gah!¡± Startled, she slipped on the ground before finding herself crashing to the ground with a Deadwoman standing over her and her heart pounding in fear.


    ¡°Did you talk to the doctors?! Why are you on the ground?! Can I see my meadow flower?! Have I been a good girl?!¡± The Deadwoman asked, bombarding her with questions.


    ¡°I, um,¡± Swallowing down her apprehensions, she forced herself to stand while stalling by answering, ¡°I just slipped, sorry about that.¡±


    ¡°I-it¡¯s fine!¡± Elizabeth assured her nervously. ¡°D-did you talk to the doctors though?¡±


    ¡°Um, yes.¡± She lied. ¡°They¡¯re uh, they¡¯re currently going through the paperwork to get ahold of your case work so they can find your daughter for a visit.¡±


    ¡°R-really?¡± The poor mother asked in a tone filled with so much hope and desperation that Maya was sure if she said anything the dishonesty would kill her.


    (Remember, we will find her kid.) Her inner passion reminded her, giving her just enough determination to nod to the Deadwoman.


    ¡°Thank you, thank you, thank you!¡± Elizabeth repeated, while dragging her into a bone crushing hug.


    ¡°I-I¡¯m happy to help.¡± Maya assured her. ¡°But um, the doctors said to warn you that it might take them a couple of weeks to set everything up, and, and that you have to be on your best behavior until they figure everything out. Okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll be a good girl.¡± Elizabeth promised.


    ¡°I, uh, I know you will, but um, the doctors¡­ they want me to check in with you every now and then just to make sure, alright?¡± She continued to lie, all while telling herself that she¡¯d make it up to Elizabeth by finding her daughter and making sure no one ever hurt them again.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Elizabeth nodded with a manic smile.


    ¡°Okay, then to start¡­¡± She swallowed again, knowing that this was something she needed an answer to if she was really going to reunite Elizabeth and her daughter. ¡°The um, the doctors are a little concerned about what you¡¯ve been eating.¡±


    Elizabeth froze, before shaking her head. ¡°I-I haven¡¯t been eating an-anything. No-no matter how hungry I got, or-or how much it would hurt, I wouldn¡¯t eat anything! I¡¯ve been a good girl! I have I promise!¡±


    ¡°I, I know you have Elizabeth.¡± She told the panicking Deadwoman. ¡°And, and if you¡¯ve been eating then, then it¡¯s not your fault.¡±


    The Deadwoman blinked in confusion. ¡°W-wha?¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah, it uh, it turns out the nurses haven¡¯t been doing their jobs and uh, they were supposed to be feeding you, but since they haven¡¯t been you¡¯re not in trouble for eating.¡± She explained in a way that she was sure anyone in a better state of mind than the desperate mother would see through. ¡°You see, they¡¯re um, they¡¯re not worried about the fact that you¡¯ve been eating, but they don¡¯t know what you¡¯ve been eating and that¡¯s what¡¯s got them worried.¡±


    ¡°O-oh¡­¡± Elizabeth blinked again, as if she didn¡¯t know how to process any of that, at least until she quietly asked if, ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ I¡¯ve been a good girl?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Elizabeth you have.¡± She promised.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been a good girl¡­¡± The Deadwoman repeated as a smile slowly crept across her face and her eyes began to glow a ghastly green. ¡°I¡¯ve been a good girl!¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± She nodded, trying to ignore the instinctive dread those toxic green eyes were giving her. ¡°But, but I uh, I still need to know what you¡¯ve been eating, so that the doctors can know you¡¯re not going to get sick from whatever you¡¯ve been eating.¡±


    ¡°R-right!¡± Elizabeth nodded back, losing neither her smile or the glow to her eyes. ¡°Come on it¡¯s this way Maya!¡±


    The excited Deadwoman grabbed her by her wrist before dragging her through the maze that was the mental ward in an excited dash that eventually left them standing before a large hole in the ground to what looked like a half collapsed water pipe.


    ¡°This is where I get the food I¡¯ve been eating.¡± Elizabeth explained. ¡°Sometimes food will come out of here and I¡¯ll feel better after eating it.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± She said, feeling a little nauseous both from their trip here and the implications of what Elizabeth was eating.


    ¡°L-look, there¡¯s one now!¡± Elizabeth pointed excitedly. ¡°I just have to catch it.¡±


    Similar to the first time she¡¯d seen the Deadwoman, Elizabeth seemed to stutter her image bouncing around in place before she suddenly appeared a few meters away pinning a rat to the floor with one hand.


    ¡°Whenever I get hungry I just have to catch one of these like when my grandpa used to take me hunting, and then I can just-¡±


    She forced herself to look away as something fought itself up her throat to the sound of ripping and squelching flesh.


    (Well¡­ This explains where all the rats are coming from.) Her inner reason laughed unsteadily.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s rude of me, did you want some?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± She whimpered.


    ¡°Are you sure, they taste better once you get past the fur.¡±


    ¡°Guh, I¡¯m sure¡­¡±


    (Just¡­ Just be glad it¡¯s not people.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 1XP to Dead Details, Bluffing, and Emphatic Speech.


    --Currently: Dead Details Lv. 1 (1/4), Bluffing Lv. 3 (3/8), and Emphatic Speech Lv. 2 (2/6)

 Turn 66

    Turn 66


    --- Maya ---


    Finding herself yet again unable to sleep due to recent revelations involving her resident Deadwoman -as well as the fact that said revelations went directly against what she little she knew about Deadmen- she decided that it was something of a priority to figure out whether or not people realized ¡°Deadmen don¡¯t have to fucking eat people!¡±


    (Yes, that is something of a startling revelation.) Her inner logic admitted. (Also you¡¯re lucky Izzy has a sleepover tonight, or you would¡¯ve just woken her up.)


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean.¡± She told herself with a roll of her eyes before going on to explain that, ¡°Everyone knows Deadmen eat people and yet Elizabeth is proof that they don¡¯t actually have to eat people!¡±


    (So, uh, why do they?) Her inner passion asked insightfully.


    ¡°That¡¯s um¡­¡± She deflated a bit as she blinked. ¡°That¡¯s actually a really good question. Uh, give me a second¡­¡±


    Pulling up a search tab on her computer she entered the question ¡®Why do Deadmen have to eat people?¡¯ figuring that that was a standard enough question for anyone who was pro-Deviant or found the usual shoot ¡®em dead approach distasteful.


    Surprisingly there were actually several science papers published about the topic, ones that she assumed hadn¡¯t appeared in her previous searches due to her prioritizing what Deadmen were capable of and how best to deal with them in a fight. (Which may¡¯ve been jumping the gun a bit¡­)


    (I¡¯m sure Elizabeth is more of an exception than a rule.) Her inner logic admitted. (Eventually we¡¯ll come across an evil Deadman and be glad we researched how to deal with the problem.)


    (Until then ghost waifu!)


    Deciding to ignore the other voice in her head, she instead started going through the science papers. From which she learned that the Ectoplasm that comprised most Deadman actually existed in a miniscule and inactive state in the atmosphere due to rifts to the Deadlands and with different locations possessing different amounts of the substance based on rift frequency. Now the reason that Deadmen ate each other was due to the fact that their existence was constantly draining the energy that filled said Ectoplasm, and they had large quantities of active Ectoplasm inside of them at all times. By contrast the reason they ate non-Deadmen was because Ectoplasm was reactive to the emotional energy humans passively generated thanks to Madness.


    What this meant was that as people moved around, thought, and felt they would slowly gather Ectoplasm to themselves and make it active, with the unique physic twisting properties of Ectoplasm allowing it to store within a human body without actively affecting the nearby mass or biology.


    ¡°Meaning if a Deadman gets desperate they can chomp on a few powerless humans instead of an active Deviant.¡± She translated grimly.


    (Additionally if humans gather Ectoplasm due to emotion, then that would explain why most Deadmen are so gruesome with their attacks as well.) Her inner reason also pieced together. (More fear and pain, means more Ectoplasm in their meals.)


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s¡­ a thing.¡± She admitted with a grimace towards the implications.


    (While this is all interesting in that morbid we¡¯re not going to sleep tonight kind of way, it doesn¡¯t really answer our original question.) Her inner passion reminded them.


    ¡°You¡¯re uh, right¡­¡± She frowned, before searching Deadmen and animals.


    The searches that popped up were¡­ insightful in the completely horrific manner she was coming to associate with the majority of her Deadmen research.


    ¡°So¡­ animals can become Deadmen¡­ Good to know¡­¡±


    (I believe the proper term is Deadbeast.)


    She glanced at the video name for the news report on a zombie tiger forming in a zoo and the ensuing chaos as it attacked its fellow zoo animals before eventually turning its attention onto the nearby people as it realized it was something other than meat it was craving, and whatever that something was was inside of the people running away from it.


    ¡°So it is.¡±


    (I also believe that none of the previous links said anything about Deadmen eating animals.) Her inner logic pointed out, causing her to go back a page and see-


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± She frowned, before adjusting her search a bit more. ¡°Okay, given how that dog is green and the size of a car I¡¯m going to guess it¡¯s a Deadbeast. Meaning there isn¡¯t anything about Deadmen eating animals¡­¡±


    (Which is suspicious¡­)


    (You act like you weren¡¯t expecting the government to cover up the fact that not all of the cannibal ghost-zombies have to eat people.) Her inner madness scoffed.


    ¡°I mean we don¡¯t know that it¡¯s the- And I¡¯ve already realized how stupid that sounds.¡± She admitted with a grimace. ¡°Of course the government is covering up the fact that Deadmen have alternatives to eating people, but why?¡±


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    (Fewer complaints when they go straight for the kill on the ones that are murderous cannibals? Because if you protect one of them you¡¯ve got to protect them all.)


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ plausible¡­¡± (As much as I don¡¯t like it¡­)


    (Or less cynically, if just as saddening, by pushing the idea that they¡¯re all monsters it forces people to be cautious should a loved one become a Deadman.) Her inner reason countered. (After all if you let your guard down around them and then they have a¡­ ¡®hunger episode¡¯ that would end in an even worse tragedy for everyone.)


    (Well, that¡¯s several kinds of fucked up¡­) Her inner passion metaphorically winced.


    ¡°Yeah. Yeah, it is.¡± She agreed.


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 2XP to Dead Details


    --Currently: Lv. 1 (3/4)


    ---


    After a number of even more horrifying revelations, as well as just as many hours to realize, (no I¡¯m not going to be able to sleep tonight,) she decided to pull out her laptop and instead get to work on finishing the program she¡¯d started the day prior.


    (Does it truly count as the day prior if we haven¡¯t been to sleep yet?)


    (Yes.)


    (So be it.)


    It was towards the end of this endeavor that she found herself coming to something of a roadblock that her whispers weren¡¯t willing to just take over and solve for her. Which is why she turned to the other voices in her head and asked them, ¡°How long do you two think we should have the COMP maintain a temporary cache for?¡±


    (Well, there are two easy ways we can set up the data cache.) Her inner reason told her. (The first is to simply set a timer and have the cache clear out if an entry is so old. The second is to set the COMP to retain a specific number of entries, and then delete the oldest.)


    ¡°Yeah, but both of those have a high chance of deleting something we shouldn¡¯t.¡± She felt the need to point out. ¡°Especially since we can¡¯t keep either of those numbers very high and the fact that we¡¯ll probably be using our Scan() a lot if we start getting into more fights.¡±


    (True¡­ As an alternative how about we-)


    (Let¡¯s just do them both.) Her inner madness cut in impatiently.


    ¡°And by doing them both you mean?¡±


    (Set a cache priority, and delete the worthless junk sooner.)


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s why we were going to set up a database.¡± She reminded herself. ¡°You had that idea just yesterday.¡±


    (See that just proves I¡¯m where all of our brain¡¯s creativity is being sent.) Her inner passion scoffed. (And what I meant is, set the program to prioritize certain things and delete the stuff we don¡¯t need when we need space or when a set timer goes off based on the data¡¯s priority!)


    ¡°And that runs the risk of us storing too many things if we have an active month, which is the problem we¡¯re trying to sidestep?¡±


    (Ah, I believe what our other self is saying is to apply the database idea on a smaller scale in addition to the larger one we have planned.) Her inner logic reasoned out.  (Meaning she wants to have the cache self regulate the twenty or so scan slots we can spare, based on whatever priority system we set up.)


    (Exactly!)


    She considered it for a moment before nodding. ¡°Yeah, that could work.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Scan upgraded to V1.6


    --Scan no longer drains Energy if used on a recently scanned target.


    ---


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get down to business.¡± Melvin clapped in greeting, apparently thinking nothing of the fact that he found her looking half dead in his workshop.


    (Because knows sleep is for the weak.) Her inner madness informed her.


    ¡°So yesterday you mentioned how you were trying to get good enough with your metalworking to help you actually build tools, right?¡±


    ¡°Er, yeah.¡± She nodded. ¡°The ones I¡¯ve got right now, let me mess about with metal but it¡¯s real sloppy and I end up wasting a lot of metal whenever I use them.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s definitely a problem.¡± Melvin agreed, before setting a bunch of common tools and several pieces of scrap metal on the table. ¡°Which is why I¡¯m going to show you how to make a decent set of tools with budget supplies. And then you¡¯re going to take a set home with you.¡±


    ¡°Wait, you don¡¯t have to-¡±


    ¡°Maya,¡± The older M.A.D. cut her off. ¡°Part of my job here at the club is helping out younger M.A.D.s with whatever problems they¡¯re having. If your problem is that you need better tools, then it¡¯s my job to help you get better tools.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°I already told you I can make my own tools, I just¡­ I just need to figure a couple of things out first.¡± She tried to explain.


    ¡°Mm, hmm.¡± Melvin nodded with an unimpressed look. ¡°And I¡¯m guessing like all prideful M.A.D.s you want to figure it out on your own with nothing but you and your powers.¡±


    (Don¡¯t forget about us!)


    ¡°More or less.¡± She admitted, feeling a little embarrassed about her reasoning, or lack thereof, for refusing his help.


    ¡°Well then, you can watch me make a set of tools and then figure out how to do the same for yourself.¡± The older M.A.D. told her.


    ¡°What but-¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no different than what you¡¯ve been doing so far.¡± Melvin reminded her.


    She frowned before eventually sighing. ¡°Fine¡­ I¡¯ll watch you make a set of tools and then make my own.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± The older M.A.D. conceded. ¡°And honestly it¡¯s probably best that you make them yourself anyway.¡±


    ¡°Uh, why?¡± She blinked.


    ¡°Oh, since you haven¡¯t been using your club supplies and have only been helping us out around the club, some of the organizers for this place have been wondering if you should be demoted to minion.¡±


    (Demoted to what now?!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained 3XP to Metalworking


    --*Skill Level Up*- Metal Working Lv. 5 (0/12)


    -Bonus: Unlocked Basic Tools-


    --Allows usage of Metal projects, without increasing Scrap cost.


    --Decreases cost of Electronics by 1.

 Hell Hospital, First Dive (Pt. 1)

    Hell Hospital, First Dive (Pt. 1)


    --- Maya ---


    (Ugh, this is a bad idea.) Her inner turmoil warned as they continued through the darkened halls of the hospital.


    (Unfortunately, this is our only lead at the moment.) Her inner reason reminded them of what they didn¡¯t want to remember.


    (And technically we can still try talking to Elizabeth.) Her inner passion suggested. (We just have to figure out how to get something useful out of her without making her cry or attack us.)


    (Both of which are difficult in their own ways.) Her inner logic pointed out.


    (Still better than walking through the hospital hell wing.)


    ¡°Look, we just need to get in, find anything on Elizabeth, and then get out.¡± She interrupted. ¡°We already know where the administration room is, and we¡¯re almost there. As long as we don¡¯t fuck around we should be able to get the file before¡­¡±


    (The walls start bleeding the blood of the damned?)


    ¡°Yeah, that.¡± She swallowed, before flashing her light over the nearby doors and ignoring the various claw marks on the wall.


    (Yeah, that¡¯s definitely not a good sign.)


    ¡°Like I said, get in, find the files, and get out.¡± She swallowed, picking up her pace as she searched for the administration room.


    (Where is it? Where is it? Where is- There!) She rushed to the door with a faded ¡®administration archives¡¯ name plate as if it was the light at the end of a dark tunnel.


    Reaching for the door she couldn¡¯t help but growl. ¡°Fuck! Who locks a door on the building they¡¯re abandoning?!¡±


    (Someone who¡¯s abandoning it in a hurry?) Her inner madness offered unhelpfully.


    Shaking her head she took a few steps back before trying to kick the door open. ¡°Fuck!¡±


    (You didn¡¯t actually expect that to work did you?)


    ¡°Shut up!¡± She snapped. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to use the Hand Cannons in case the noise draws the attention of¡­ whatever the fuck is on this side of the hospital.¡±


    (Unfortunately, we might have to given how long it would take us to break down the door otherwise.) Her inner reason noted.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Just means we¡¯re going to have to be even faster about this.¡± She sighed, before firing off a burst of sound at the door and blasting it off of its hinges as a loud echo tore through the empty hospital halls.


    Knowing she¡¯d probably sped up whatever timer she was on, she rushed into the room before letting her eyes dart around several filing cabinets laying throughout the room with a a large desk in the middle of it all. ¡°Shit, any of these could be the file we¡¯re looking for!¡±


    (Given her status as a Deadman perhaps we should start with hospital deaths?) Her inner logic suggested.


    ¡°Right, but which one is that?¡±


    (Does it matter, just start looking through them!) Her inner passion hissed.


    ¡°Right.¡± She shook her her head before moving to the nearest cabinet and pulling out the first two files she could find. ¡°Okay, this looks like¡­ hospital equipment?¡±


    Tossing the files onto the ground she moved to a cabinet a few paces over, figuring that the cabinets close to each other would be for the same type of records. ¡°Uh¡­ hospital staff, or payment records? Either way, not what we need.¡±


    Continuing on like this for several tense minutes she slowly made her way around the room before eventually finding a cabinet full of patient files, most notably patient files with a date of death on them.


    ¡°Yes, this is it.¡± She cheered before beginning to shift through the various files in search of any that could be Elizabeth¡¯s.


    (Wait, hold up! Hearing something!) Her inner madness yelled.


    She froze, before tilting her head and hearing an almost sickening sort of squelching coming from behind her. Turning towards the sound she found a growing black and red spot on the ceiling where it looked like something was trying to claw its way through. (Actually it kind of looks like those Bleeds from-)


    A large hand with four viciously sharp claws shot out of the portal in an explosion of blood and trailing back through via a muscular red arm covered in black veins. The hand bent and twisted around before grabbing onto the ceiling and seeming to haul its owner out of the portal.


    (Oh, shit!) Realizing what was happening she dove for cover before hearing a particularly loud squelch and a heavy thud as she settled herself beneath the office desk.


    Contorting herself into an awkward position she was able to peek out from the bottom of the desk and get a look at whatever had escaped the Bleed in the ceiling.


    Near the entrance hunched over on all four was a large muscular humanoid creature with red leather like skin, digitigrade back legs, and ridges along its spine. The entire thing giving her a feeling of (wrong, wrong, wrongness) the longer she stared at it.


    As if sensing her mounting panic, the creature seemed to sniff the air a bit before turning towards her and revealing an almost canine-like maw beneath a pair of glowing red eyes and the shaggy matted black hair that covered them.


    A rumbling growl escaped the beast¡¯s throat, seeming to vibrate throughout the entire room as the monster stared at the desk she was hiding behind, almost as if knowing exactly where its prey was hiding.


    (Oh, that¡¯s not good.)


    (Ya think?!)


    Righting herself, and leaning back against the desk, her heart began to pound against her ribcage as a clawing sound came from atop the desk.


    (Shit, shit, shit! What do we do, what do we do?)

 Hell Hospital First Dive (Pt. 2)

    Hell Hospital First Dive (Pt. 2)


    --- Maya ---


    (No. Fuck this.) She decided, gritting her teeth.


    She¡¯d spent the entirety of the summer festival running from monsters like this while they threatened her family. She was not going to run when she actually had the power to fight back this time.


    Inhaling, and readying her Hand Cannons, she counted to ten to steel herself before darting out from under the desk and pointing her hand at the monster¡¯s maul.


    A loud booming sound tore through the small room as she blasted the beast with a burst of her sound¡¯s brutal beats, sending the monster crashing into the wall on the other side of the room.


    The beast shook its head out before turning its hateful hellfire red eyes onto her, and sending a wave of creeping fear down her spine as it slowly picked itself off of the ground.


    ¡°Okay, you¡¯ve got this. Sure most of your fighting experience is with a middle schooler, but you can absolutely kill a hell beast.¡± She told herself, trying to keep calm despite the monster¡¯s (wrong, wrong, wrongness!)


    The beast tilted its head to the side before growling at her, the sound seeming to shake and rumble the entirety of the room around her.


    ¡°Uh, m-maybe you don¡¯t have this.¡± She told herself, taking a step back as the pounding in her chest became painfully loud.


    Sensing her moment of weakness the beast lunged at her in a powerful leap that sent it flying across the room, and crashing into the office¡¯s desk when she just barely managed to throw herself out of the way.


    Hitting the ground she quickly forced herself back onto her feet, and noticed the beast struggling to its feet. ¡°Huh, that¡¯s¡­¡±


    She blinked twice before realizing that this was an opportunity to attack, and aimed her Hand Cannon at the monster as it picked itself off of the ground.


    A glowing red eye locked onto her own as the beast began to growl, causing the world around her to shake as he breath became ragged.


    (O-on second thought m-maybe I should u-use this chance to, to run!)


    Turning around she darted out of the office¡¯s open door way and rushed down the hall, the sound of scratching and stomping steps behind her the only indication that she hadn¡¯t outrun the beast. Seeing that she was coming up on a corner, and knowing that she needed to buy herself a bit of distance if she wanted to escape the beast, she skidded around on her heel and brought up her hand cannon before firing off a wave of sound and blasting the beast away from her.


    Not waiting for the monster to reassert its footing she darted around the corner and rushed the nearest open door before closing it behind her as quickly and quietly as possible.


    Putting her back to the door, she hugged her legs as she heard the sound of the beast running through the halls behind her, hoping with all hope that the thing wouldn¡¯t find her.


    (Shit, shit, shit!) She cursed, (I¡¯m so in over my head here¡­)


    She closed her eyes, and hit the back of her head against the door, wondering how long she had until the monster managed to track her down and kill her¡­ despite the fact that she¡¯d actually managed to blast it away twice now. (Three if I include it¡¯s fumbled leap.)


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Blinking, she couldn¡¯t help but frown. (Actually, thinking about it, that thing isn¡¯t even all that scary. Hell, I¡¯ve seen scarier monsters in some of my games, and all I had in those was a knife when I fought those.)


    Of course there was still the difference between reality and fiction there but, (that didn¡¯t stop me from fighting all of Decker¡¯s wolves, or even Decker himself.) And she was pretty sure a gang lieutenant to one of the largest gangs in the city was notably more dangerous than some random creep off of the streets.


    In fact, with her mind cleared up now, she could easily recall being ready to fight it the first time she attacked it, as well as right after it fumbled its attack on her. Both things that she was more than ready for, until she¡¯d gotten an overwhelming urge to run.


    Running a hand down her face, she felt her frown deepen. (Why is it that if I know I can take this thing, that whenever I try to fight it I just become so scared that I ru-)


    In a moment of sudden clarity, she recalled several games she enjoyed playing.


    Specifically she recalled the ones where there was this nifty little crowd control effect that forced those hit by it to run away from the one who used it, regardless of how harmless the user actually was to the affected individual. An effect that, between the sheer number of kills it had robbed her of or shot-in-the-back deaths it had caused over the years, she hated more than any other form of crowd control in video games.


    Her eye twitched for a moment, as she felt something inside of her snap.


    ¡°That motherfucker is Fear spamming me!¡± She shouted in outrage, not caring if the (poser ass bitch of a) monster heard her. ¡°I cannot believe this fucker is- ?Pinche cabron!¡± She cursed, throwing the door open. ¡°?Chinga tu madre!¡±


    Stomping through the hospital halls she hunted down the (cheap, crowd control spamming, punk ass bitch of a) monster, ready to give it a piece of her mind regardless of its cheap tricks.


    Now that she wasn¡¯t trying to run from it, finding the creature hunting her was actually relatively easy, and after barely a few minutes she found herself looking at a pair of hellfire red eyes, that made some part of her want to grimace away.


    Shaking her head, she glared back at the eyes causing the beast to tilt its head.


    And then the growling started once more.


    Unlike before she was actually able to feel the way the fear creeped over her and made her every instinct scream for her to run away from the monster.


    Luckily for her however, she was just pissed enough to ignore her fear and instead blasted the beast with another wave of sound as it tried to enslave her mind.


    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± She grimaced, shaking her head as the effect quickly fled her mind after her attack hit the beast. ¡°Yeah, can definitely feel that now that I¡¯m looking for it.¡±


    Scowling at the beast as it clumsily began to pick itself off of the ground, she felt a sense of disgust as she realized how harmless the beast really was as long as she had her Hand Cannons.


    ¡°Pinche usuarios de miedo.¡± She spat at the beast before switching her Hand Cannons to electricity and firing burst after burst at the downed creep, until finally something in the air shifted.


    Stopping for just a moment, she watched the beast no longer feeling the inherent sense of wrongness that had been plaguing her mind ever since it had clawed its way out of its Bleed. And so taking no chances she used her Scan() on it to determine just how much damage she¡¯d done to the beast. Something that became redundant as she noticed bits of cinder and ash beginning to flake off of the monster¡¯s flesh and float through the air.


    Blinking in fascination, she couldn¡¯t help but stare as the beast¡¯s corpse slowly dissolved in a manner that she could just barely remember from the Husk she¡¯d seen that one cop kill at the Summer Festival.


    ¡°I guess this guy is related to that mess somehow?¡± She frowned, trying to process this new information. Or rather she would¡¯ve tried processing it, if not for the sound of a worryingly familiar squelching sound.


    Turning her head around she felt the color drain from her face as she saw not one Bleed but half a dozen of them slowly tearing open throughout the hall.


    Knowing how much trouble that one monster gave her, and not feeling like trying her luck against five fear spammers all at once, she chuckled nervously as she slowly backed away from the various portals to some unknown hell dimension.


    ¡°You know what, I think I¡¯m just going to uh, call it for the day.¡±


    A clawed hand shot out of one of the bleeds, sending both a wave of wrongness and spattering of what looked like blood through the hospital hall.


    ¡°Yeah, that sounds like a really good idea, me. Let¡¯s do that.¡±

 Turn 67- Talks and a Decision

    Turn 67


    --- Maya ---


    Coming across Vi working on one of her school projects at the kitchen table, a thought popped into Maya¡¯s head. (Hey, isn¡¯t Vi taking a Deviant studies class?)


    (Yeah, and?)


    (Do you think those Bleed monsters pop up in her lessons?)


    (Why would they?)


    (Ah, I see.) Her inner logic cut in, realizing where their other self was going. (Given how they¡¯re dealt with by heroes, hunters, and or Sanctuary, these creatures might be considered a Deviant threat.)


    (Yeah, that.)


    (Huh, that makes sense.) She admitted to herself, before turning her attention back to her elder sister. ¡°Hey, uh, Vi I have a question, but I¡¯m not entirely sure if you can help?¡±


    Vi blinked, looking up from her work. ¡°Huh, uh, what¡¯s up, My?¡±


    ¡°Right, so you¡¯re taking a Deviant studies class, and I was kind of wondering if you were also covering things like the Rifts and Bleeds, and stuff like that?¡± She tried to explain.


    ¡°Uh, well we don¡¯t really go in depth about where the rifts all go -Since that¡¯s a separate class altogether.- but we do at least get an overview about them.¡± Vi answered, before asking. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s just I was thinking about that mess at the summer festival the other month, and realized I don¡¯t actually know all that much about Bleeds and those monsters, or even how they¡¯re dealt with beyond calling Sanctuary or a Hunter.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Vi grimaced at the reminder of that mess. ¡°Well, uh, where to start? Okay, so do you know the difference between a Rift and a Bleed?¡±


    She considered it for a moment before shrugging. ¡°Rifts are portals to other worlds while Bleeds spit out monsters?¡±


    Vi¡¯s face scrunched up as she gave a so-so gesture. ¡°Sort of. Rifts are portals to other worlds but so are Bleeds, the big difference is that Bleeds are more¡­ invasive almost, with Creeps -That¡¯s what everyone calls them.- tearing their way through and ending up here.¡±


    ¡°And how do they do that?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Magic, Madness, no idea.¡± Vi admitted with a shrug. ¡°We just know that Rifts stay open for a prolonged period of time, while Bleeds open for short intervals but can have a lot more of them open at one time, spreading the whole mess out. Also it¡¯s fifty-fifty on if a Rift will lead somewhere hostile, while given how they¡¯re invading it¡¯s almost guaranteed with Bleeds.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± Most of that was stuff she could figure out from her Deviant Masquerade games, -(though I always thought creep was just another word for a game mob). At the same time however, having those details confirmed was helpful in its own way. ¡°Oh, actually that reminds me? Since it¡¯s from my games I¡¯m not sure if it holds true, but what about those Boss Creeps?¡±


    ¡°Uh, those are real.¡± Vi nodded with another scrunched up look. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how it works, but apparently when a lot of weak Creeps die near each other it¡¯ll attract the attention of a bigger Creep, though I only really know that from watching a couple of Masks dealing with Bleeds on the news.¡±


    (Meaning even if I clear out all of the monsters running around the hospital, )


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to Vi.


    -Due to Vi¡¯s explanation and previous experience gained a New Skill: Creep Comprehension at Lv. 1 (2/4).


    --A knowledge skill allowing the identification of enemies of the [Creep] category, and their various traits.


    ---


    ¡°I uh, I feel like this isn¡¯t quite¡­ right?¡± Aisha admitted in their party chat.


    ¡°Yeah, because no one is playing any fear spamming bitches!¡± She cursed, as her character looked down on a small group of enemies guarding an objective.


    ¡°Um, that¡¯s¡­ not really the uh, problem.¡± Her friend pointed out.


    ¡°Then what is?¡± She asked, legitimately confused since the entire point of this little gaming session was for her to try and kill the users of that (stupid) form of crowd control.


    ¡°Several things¡­¡± Aisha muttered on the mic. ¡°But uh, you do know that fear isn¡¯t really an effect in this game, right?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± She frowned. ¡°I know like five Masks with fear effects that make their enemies run away. I mean just look at the Vigils, even the nice guy of the group has one!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, for the um mobs, but they don¡¯t really, uh, work that way on other masks. Instead they um, they lower stats, disrupt focus, and cause stun damage depending on the, uh, upgrades.¡± Aisha reminded her nervously. ¡°And the, uh, runaway thing only happens when you max the effect on standard mobs.¡±


    (Not quite what happened to us then.)


    (Eh, it¡¯s close enough for the bitches to deserve to die.)


    (Agreed.)


    ¡°Still, I haven¡¯t found any of them to beat up!¡± She growled, both at her words and the fact that an enemy player killed her after she¡¯d cleared the objective guards, effectively stealing it from her.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°That¡¯s uh¡­¡± Aisha sighed, before continuing in a resigned tone. ¡°If you want to beat up fear users, why are we playing PVP?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°The Bleed Maps all have at least one fear spamming unit.¡± Aisha explained. ¡°In fact they¡¯re one of the more common enemies after Ravagers and Husks.¡±


    (Husks?) That sounded familiar.


    (Because it¡¯s what Officer Whitaker called those monsters from the summer festival.)


    ¡°The most annoying are the, -gah, what was it?- something phobius.¡± Her friend continued unaware of her revelation. ¡°I don¡¯t know most people just call them bloodhounds since they come from Bleeds and look like these furless red werewolf things.¡±


    ¡°Furless red werewolf?¡± She repeated, making a connection she really didn¡¯t like.


    ¡°Well aside from this really matted black hair on their heads, it really makes their glowing eyes stand out.¡± Aisha told her. ¡°Though it''s most visible on the night maps.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± She frowned, knowing something that matched that description a little too well.


    (You know we probably should¡¯ve seen this coming when Vi confirmed how realistic our games actually are.)


    (Well, at least we can actually kill the fear spamming fuckers in our game rather than pretending that¡¯s what we¡¯re doing.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to Aisha.


    -Gained 1XP to Creep Comprehension.


    --Currently: Lv. 1 (3/4).


    ---


    ¡°So uh, what are you working on there?¡± Kim asked, looking over her shoulder to get a better look at the piece of electronics and plastic in her hand.


    ¡°A rebreather.¡± She answered, trying very hard to keep the other M.A.D. from seeing the bits that also made her headset a Mask¡¯s mask.


    (You know perhaps working on our mask at the club was a mistake¡­) Her inner logic couldn¡¯t help but point out. (Especially since we¡¯re trying to hide our desire to be a hero at the moment.)


    (Bah, fuck our secret identity if it means being labeled a minion.)


    (I¡¯m fairly certain Melvin was just joking when he told us that.) Her inner reason admitted before mentally frowning. (Also isn¡¯t that an insult to all of our minions?)


    (You leave my babies out of this!)


    Kim gave her a look. ¡°Uh-huh, and why exactly do you need a rebreather?¡±


    ¡°Um,¡± (Quick brain, come up with a lie for me!)


    (I got squat.)


    (Same.)


    (Well fuck you too!)


    ¡°I¡¯ve¡­ got allergies.¡± She admitted, which while not an actual lie, wasn''t the reason she was building the rebreather, especially since her filter already took care of that stuff for her. ¡°And since I¡¯m starting to work on those healing herb things, I figured it¡¯d be good to have something to keep any pollen out of my eyes and lungs.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense.¡± Kim nodded, seemingly buying her lie. ¡°You know I never actually thought about what I¡¯d do if I was allergic to one of my critters.¡±


    ¡°Well, unfortunately some of us are allergic to the stuff we work with¡­ or some of it anyway.¡± She continued, going all in with her lie.


    Scene Consequences


    -Upgraded Headset to Mk. 1.7


    --Mask can now be used to breathe underwater for a short period of time.


    -Gained 1XP to Bluffing for covering up a mistake.


    --Currently: Lv. 4 (1/10).


    -Skill Level Up: Electronics Lv. 6 (0/14).


    ---


    (Uh, are we sure we want to do this?) Her inner madness asked with some reluctance.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like we have much of a choice.¡± She sighed, spinning in her chair as her computer compiled the basic programs to bounce her phone around and leave her anonymous on her next call. ¡°Especially if, with our luck, something goes wrong on Halloween which is barely two weeks away.¡±


    (And it also happens to be a full moon this year.) Her inner reason tacked on to underline that point.


    ¡°Yeah, Halloween with a full moon, you know something is going down on that night.¡± She told herself.


    (But the heroes are going to know where our base is.) Her inner child whined. (And then they¡¯ll be snooping through our stuff, and watching us, and they¡¯ll probably come over to try and recruit us and all of that garbage.)


    (If worse comes to worse, we can always change bases.) Her inner logic pointed out.


    (Yeah, but then we¡¯d have to abandon our servers, our generator, the LCM¡¯s stuff and make the minions move to a whole new place on top of it!) Her maternal instincts reminded her. (And the hospital is all the LCMs know!)


    ¡°Okay, then what would you suggest?¡± She asked herself. ¡°I mean we could fight the Creeps in the hospital but there¡¯s no telling if that¡¯ll get rid of them permanently, and then there¡¯ll be the Boss Creep on top of those fuckers.¡±


    (True, but then again we never did look into how exactly Bleeds are dealt with beyond the matter of simply fighting them. And we only know that bit works due to those Mask videos Vi showed us.) Her inner reason threw out, playing devil¡¯s advocate. (Then again if we must fight them, perhaps having the Heroes¡¯ Guild on our side could be of some aid.)


    (Or they¡¯d sideline us while trying to get us to join up.) Her inner passion argued. (And on top of that what¡¯s to keep them from trying to confiscate our stuff if they decide it¡¯s too dangerous for a civilian?)


    (I doubt they¡¯d do that given how it would alienate any M.A.D. they try to pull it with.) Her inner logic dismissed. (And the only reason we didn¡¯t sign up with them in the first place was because it would require us to out ourselves to our parents, which as long as we don¡¯t reveal our identity they cannot do themselves.)


    (You think that¡¯d stop them? If they want to know who we are they¡¯ll figure it out one way or another.) Her inner Madness scoffed. (And the reason we didn¡¯t sign up for them in the first place is because we wanted a way to make money off of this to help out family! Something we can still do as an independent even if we didn¡¯t take the villain route. While I¡¯m sure those goody-two-shoes will want to confiscate all of the money for their own funds like the police do!)


    (We don¡¯t have to join them just because they can find us.) Her inner reason told her other self. (And even if we did I¡¯m sure they would offer us proper funding and resources in exchange for following their rules-)


    (Rules and red tape that could slow us down!) Her inner passion cut in. (Right now we can focus on and do whatever we want, but if we join them we¡¯d have to do whatever they tell us to or else have those precious resources cut off!)


    (As I said we do not have to join them regardless of if they press, but having allies in the Mask community could only be beneficial to us!)


    (What about the Masks who aren¡¯t part of the Guild, I doubt they¡¯ll want to see much of us if we sold out!)


    (And where exactly do you see these other masks?)


    (Just because we haven¡¯t met them doesn¡¯t mean they aren¡¯t there!)


    (That is hardly-)


    ¡°Will you both shut up!¡± She yelled, ending the argument that was giving her a migraine.


    Silence echoed around her both from within and without.


    Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before slowly letting it out as she made her decision.

 Turn 67 (Pt. 2)- Second Thoughts and Priorities Set

    Turn 67 (Pt. 2)- Second Thoughts and Priorities Set


    --- Maya ---


    With a moment to think about it, she decided that the responsible thing to do was to call the Heroes¡¯ Guild to help her, because as much as she wanted to remain independent of watchers she wasn¡¯t really willing to allow a bunch of demons to run rampant for such a minor reason.


    And so with her decision set, a little voice threw out, (What about ghost waifu?) bringing her to an immediate halt before she could call the heroes.


    ¡°What about her?¡± She asked herself cautiously.


    (Well, if we call someone else to help us out won¡¯t they want to investigate the entire hospital?) Her stray thought continued.


    (Meaning they¡¯d probably find her pretty quickly.) Another thought threw out, following the first¡¯s tangent.


    ¡°Okay, I can see why that¡¯d be bad if we called Sanctuary, but the Heroes¡¯ Guild is all about helping people and keeping them safe.¡± She reminded herself. ¡°It¡¯s not like they¡¯re going to do anything to hurt her.¡±


    (Are you sure about that?) Her inner paranoia asked. (After all, is it safer for the public if they let a cannibal ghost-zombie run free, or if they ¡®deal with it¡¯ before anyone can get hurt.)


    ¡°But she eats animals, not people.¡± She pointed out. ¡°That¡¯s no different than anyone else, and unless they made meat actual murder, they can¡¯t get her in trouble for that.¡±


    (Unless we take into account the fact that we didn¡¯t know that Deadmen could eat animals until a few days ago.) Her inner logic chimed in. (If whatever hero they send lacks that knowledge the same way we did, then they might think that Elizabeth is part of the problem here rather than a victim.)


    ¡°With as big as the guild is they have to know that not all Deadmen are monsters.¡± She argued.


    (Perhaps.) Her inner reason admitted, before giving a mental grimace. (But have you ever heard of a Heroic Deadman?)


    (Are you willing to risk them not knowing when they get here?)


    (...)


    ¡°Fu~uck¡­¡± She groaned, running her hands down her face.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to deal with this ourselves, aren¡¯t we?¡± She asked after a moment of silence. ¡°At least if we want to guarantee Elizabeth¡¯s safety.¡±


    (It seems so¡­) Her inner logic agreed with a touch of reluctance. (The question then becomes, how?)


    ¡°Well, um, going over that stuff we talked about with Vi and Aisha, the Bleeds are dimensional portals like Rifts, but more aggressive.¡± She said beginning to brainstorm ideas as she pulled out computer.


    (Normally I¡¯m all for the megalomania, but dimensional portals might be a bit above our current paygrade.) Her inner madness admitted. (At least if we¡¯ve only got a couple of weeks to figure it out.)


    (Surprisingly reasonable.) Her inner reason commented, before adding that, (That time constraint is likely our most crippling factor in this mess. Our we absolutely sure something is going to happen on Halloween?)


    ¡°Do you want to chance us being right?¡± She asked herself. ¡°And remember how often we are right when you answer.¡±


    (Point.) Her inner logic conceded. (But in that case it¡¯d probably be best to look into how the guild and Sanctuary deal with Bleeds in the first place.)


    (Taking their sweet ass time and hoping nothing goes wrong?) Her inner passion threw out, remembering how the mess at the summer festival went.


    (To be fair, despite the public venue those¡­ Husks, I believe they¡¯re called, were a low priority threat. In fact, given how easily that one officer dispatched them, it¡¯d be safe to say that we likely could have dealt with them ourselves.) Her inner reason pointed out. (The only reason things got as bad as they did was due to the various festival goers panicking when things went wrong.)


    ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯s a point.¡± She admitted with a sigh. ¡°But like you said those Husks are a lot less dangerous than these¡­ Bloodhounds screwing with our heads.¡±


    (Eh, less that they¡¯re more dangerous so much as that they¡¯re fear spamming bitches.) Her inner rage corrected.


    She rolled her eyes. ¡°Whatever. The point stands that they¡¯re harder to fight, and if they manage to stun lock and swarm us, we¡¯re fucked. And that¡¯s a fairly big problem when you consider the fact that any solution we come up with probably requires that we go onto their pinche turf to do it.¡±


    (I suppose that means, first priority is finding a way to snap ourselves out of their fear effect.) Her inner logic noted. (The second is finding an actual way to deal with them.)


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, already on that.¡± She told herself, pulling up several reports about Dimensional Creeps and Bleeds. ¡°Wait¡­ that can¡¯t be right.¡±


    (Well, that¡¯s¡­ underwhelming¡­ to say the least¡­)


    (Huh, real life is a video game.)


    Apparently the best way to deal with a Bleed was to kill all of the Creeps pouring out of it, and then finish off the Boss that forms afterwards. A method so simple and easy that everyone from the Heroes¡¯ Guild and Sanctuary, to both the Arcane and Hunter Associations, all used it to solve the problem of a Creep invasion.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s so¡­ fucking stupid.¡± She groaned with her head in her hands. ¡°The only solution for dealing with Rifts is to kill whatever comes out of them?!¡±


    (Not Rifts, Bleeds.) Her inner reason pointed out. (I very much doubt that they apply this solution to Rifts as well when we have Travelers running around.)


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s a¡­ good point.¡± She nodded, making a slight tangent to look at how Rifts are dealt with. ¡°And that is much less stupid.¡±


    By contrast to the simple method of slaughtering Creeps, Rifts were given a much wider range of methods to deal with them. Ranging from research stations being built around them should a Rift or the location behind it prove interesting enough for study, to a powerful piece of M.A.D. Tech capable of sealing the Rifts shut at a damn near obscene cost in both power and parts. And of course there was the tried and true method of just waiting for it to shut since few Rifts stayed open for more than a couple of days if left alone.


    (So that¡¯s why they use such a simple method for Bleeds.) Her inner logic realized. (Once you take into account that most Bleeds only last a few minutes, and the expense in both time, money, and other resources to set up these other methods. The simplest method becomes the cheapest and most efficient, especially when any Soldier, Hunter, or Mask can deal with them.)


    (A Mask like us.) Her inner passion added.


    ¡°Well then, that makes this much easier.¡± She blinked before shaking her head a moment later. ¡°No wait, that just brings us full circle and back to fighting these things, since that¡¯s apparently the only option anyone bothered to come up with.¡±


    (To be fair it is also the fun option.)


    (True.)


    She pinched the bridge of her nose before deciding, ¡°Fuck it, let¡¯s just move on. How exactly are we going to fight something that stun locks us? I mean there¡¯s no guarantee we can come up with something to resist their fear effect.¡±


    (That¡¯s quitter talk.) Her inner madness told her.


    (Quite¡­ though why not look up how Sanctuary or the heroes¡¯ guild deals with these Creeps?) Her inner reason suggested.


    ¡°What do you mean? Wouldn¡¯t that stuff be like super classified?¡±


    (Ooh, are we finally hacking Sanctuary?) Her inner child squealed.


    (That is still ill advised.) Her inner logic shot down quick. (That said, given how these Bleeds often manifest in a public setting it makes sense that there¡¯d be a public database about them somewhere. Possibly for Hunters and independent Masks if we¡¯re lucky, for the morbidly curious if we¡¯re not.)


    (Oh, if that doesn¡¯t work we can always check our video game wikis since they¡¯re apparently based on real monsters.)


    (I¡­ wouldn¡¯t trust that information unless we were truly desperate.)


    ¡°We¡¯re not?¡± She asked before going through several of the search pages she¡¯d opened for Dimensional Creeps and trying to narrow it down to a database of some kind. Eventually she managed to stumble upon something of value.


    ¡°Huh, guess we got lucky this time.¡± She said, looking over a Creep Database, one apparently managed by the Hunter¡¯s Association.


    (It only makes sense that this exists given how large the Hunter¡¯s Association is.) Her inner reason told her. (Truthfully the surprise is that all of this information isn¡¯t behind some kind of security wall.)


    (Not that would stop us.)


    (Quite.)


    ¡°Um, it looks like they use a ranking system for the threat level of Creeps and only the lowest two are available to the public. You have to log in using a Hunter¡¯s ID to get at the more dangerous stuff.¡± She frowned, wondering why that was.


    (Probably to give people a taste of what Hunters do while making sure someone doesn¡¯t pick a fight with something they shouldn¡¯t.) Her inner logic suggested.


    ¡°Maybe¡­ either way it doesn¡¯t really matter as long as we can find the Creep we¡¯re looking for.¡± She told herself, using a search engine with a large number of options asking for the physical description of the Creep she was looking for.


    (And if we can¡¯t we¡¯ll just hack the bitch.)


    ¡°Right, okay, best match to our guy is¡­ a lesser Cynophobius, a.k.a. a Bloodhound.¡± She read, mentally noting the fact that there was a greater Cynophobius out there, and that they were above E Rank in threat level.


    ¡°Typically appear in packs of four to eight, with a tendency to generate Bleeds in a location where acts of violence and horror have occurred in the past twenty or so years.¡± She began reading, unable to help the stray thinking, (Yep, that describes the hospital from what we¡¯ve seen and learned.)


    ¡°Bloodhounds are a type of Ambush Creep, often appearing in the same area until dealt with, while also disappearing back behind their Bleed should no sapient prey be found nearby.¡± She continued with a shiver. ¡°Should no prey be found for a long enough period of time, the Bloodhound¡¯s pack will often use our world to migrate to another location before once more lying in wait. Sometimes creating the violence and horror they use to distinguish their nesting grounds should this migration last for more than a few hours at a time. That said, during these migrations it is not uncommon for Bloodhounds to attempt to pick off nearby stragglers of both sapient and non species.¡±


    (Oh, that is very bad.)


    ¡°Yeah, right now me and Elizabeth are the only ones in serious danger, but if these things are allowed out that¡¯ll put a lot more people at risk.¡± She grimaced.


    (Actually I¡¯m more worried about the straggler bit.) Her inner reason confessed. (Especially when you consider what day we think they¡¯re most likely to migrate.)


    ¡°Oh¡­ oh.¡± She swallowed.


    (Yes, I believe the stakes just went up.) Her inner logic agreed dryly.


    ¡°Okay. Fuck¡­¡± She took a calming breath before shaking her head. ¡°There¡¯s uh, there¡¯s got to be something we can use on here let¡¯s see¡­ Hunting habits. While typically lacking in physical prowess when compared to more commonly seen Creeps, Bloodhounds like all phobius Creeps, are capable of generating a fear aura that induces panic in all who are subjected to it. Causing a loss of focus and an instinctive desire to flee that can leave many open to the pack¡¯s assault, seeing as how few can actually outrun them given how speed is one of the few physical parameters Bloodhounds surpass most E Rank Creeps.¡±


    ¡°Alright so, fast but weak, fights in a team, and uses fear to create an opening.¡± She summarized once she finished reading. ¡°Ideas on how we deal with this?¡±


    (Well, from a purely physical standpoint if we were to finish our power armor, or at least get it to a functional state, we could probably match them physically.) Her inner reason offered. (After all, just because they¡¯re weak for Creeps does not mean they¡¯re weak for humans.)


    (I don¡¯t know, I mean that one we killed went down pretty fast once we got around it¡¯s fear thing.) Her inner madness pointed out. (A few upgrades to our hand cannons and we could probably one shot them. Hell, if we gave the DMs their own dakka they might be able to deal with the things for us since they''re probably immune to whatever fear effect these things are using.)


    (Debatable given how panicked DM-2 was when we found her.) Her inner logic offered, before conceding, (Though that may¡¯ve been a remnant of her panic when she first ran.)


    ¡°Honestly, if we¡¯re sending in a minion to fight these guys it might be better to just flat out create a combat minion to help us.¡± She threw out. ¡°I mean the DM¡¯s aren¡¯t exactly combat ready, and there¡¯s a fair bit we¡¯d have to do to make them retroactively so. Time, they could spend gathering resources for these other projects since whatever we do it¡¯s probably going to cost us a bit.¡±


    (True, but if we make an entirely new minion we¡¯d be starting from scratch with them, and we¡¯d have to do a fair bit of testing given how it¡¯d be an entirely new set of systems.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    She nodded seeing how that could be its own can of worms. (Still¡­)


    ¡°We¡¯re an M.A.D. Scientist, and we¡¯ve got just under two weeks to avert a disaster.¡± She cracked her neck to each side. ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can do.¡±

 Turn 68- Trespassing, Scavenging, and Programming

    Turn 68- Trespassing, Scavenging, and Programming


    --- Maya ---


    Knowing that she was going to need a fair number of supplies if she was going to prep everything to take on the hospital Bloodhounds, she collected the DMs and took them out to gather something as equally important to her work as scrap metal. Namely the electronics and machinery necessary for anything more advanced than a wall or casing.


    (Something we let run disturbingly low.) Her inner reason couldn¡¯t help but chide.


    ¡°I know, I know.¡± She sighed, knowing full well that her inability to keep a proper stock of materials was why she was having to waste most of the day on this rather than getting straight into inventing.


    (And I¡¯m assuming you also know that we can¡¯t have the DMs gather from an electronics bin so publicly.) Her inner logic pointed out. (At least if you don¡¯t want them to be caught.)


    ¡°Yes, yes, I know.¡± She admitted, with just a touch of frustration. ¡°Which is why we aren¡¯t showing them the route to the electronics bin.¡±


    (Uh, then where are we going? Because I haven¡¯t been paying attention given how boring all of this stuff is.)


    Running a hand down her face, she sighed yet again. ¡°We¡¯re going to one of the city¡¯s dumps in the hope that they have a bunch of trashed electronics or something.¡±


    (Aren¡¯t they going to mostly have you, trash, and -hopefully not literal- shit?) Her inner madness asked with more than a little wariness. (Hey, don¡¯t blame me just because I don¡¯t want to do more dumpster diving. I mean what kind of example are we setting for the DMs?!)


    She glanced at the two little drones following her, and noted that they¡¯d picked up several bits of trash that she¡¯d left laying on the ground including looked like-


    ¡°Okay, this is too small to work with!¡± She cried, quickly snatching a dirty needle from DM-2 and throwing it down a nearby rain ditch.


    Wiping her hand off on her pants she couldn¡¯t help but grumble, ¡°What is wrong with this city?!¡±


    (Drug dealers peddling powers, classist economy, high crime rate, failing public educational system, corrupt police force,) Her inner logic began listing.


    ¡°Right, I get it.¡± She grimaced, not liking the fact that the list was even longer than that.


    (Yeah, don¡¯t forget the regular drug dealers.) Her inner passion added. (I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯re responsible for this one.)


    Shaking her head, she ran a hand down her face before sighing. ¡°When this mess with the hospital is over we¡¯ll have to patrol more or¡­ something¡­ No, wait, we¡¯ve still got that thing with Tommy to take care of too.¡±


    (You¡¯d think with so many voices in your head you¡¯d be better at multitasking.) Her inner madness cracked.


    ¡°Yeah, fuck you too.¡± She murmured just low enough that the DMs couldn¡¯t hear it, before shaking her head. ¡°Either way we need to focus, we''re just about at the junkyard or whatever.¡±


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    (It occurs to me, how exactly do we intend to enter the yard undetected?) Her inner reason finally thought to ask as they came within view of a large metal fence.


    ¡°By breaking in of course.¡±


    (That¡­ isn¡¯t very heroic¡­) Her inner logic felt the need to point out as the began walking beside the fence.


    (Sure it is! Heroes break into places they don¡¯t belong all the time to find criminals and people to beat up.) Her inner passion argued. (At this point trespassing is almost as much a part of being a hero as assau- I mean, defense of another person.)


    (...) A sighing sound came from within her mind. (I want to argue but I feel it isn¡¯t worth the energy.)


    ¡°And that¡¯s why you¡¯re the smarter voice.¡±


    (Hey, what¡¯s that supposed to mean?!)


    ¡°This¡¯ll do.¡± She nodded crouching next to a small hole in the fence.


    (Don¡¯t ignore me!)


    Continuing to do just that, she slipped on her hand cannon before grabbing the edge of the hole and firing off a burst of sound, causing the entire fence to shake as the hole was made significantly larger.


    (Just going to add vandalism to our list of unheroic behavior.)


    ¡°You do that.¡± She agreed, peering through the hole. ¡°Should be able to crawl through this.¡±


    And she was, even if she got stuck for a moment when pulling her stomach through.


    (I am not fat!!!)


    (I didn¡¯t say you were.)


    (But you were thinking it.)


    (How does that work when I¡¯m a voice in her head?)


    (I don¡¯t know, you¡¯re supposedly the ¡®smarter voice¡¯.)


    (...)


    With her and the DMs inside of the junkyard she decided to have a look around to try and find something of value, both for her inventing purposes as well as to show the DMs what exactly she was hoping they¡¯d find. And as luck would have it she found a bunch of electronics lying beneath a small pile of garbage. (Ooh, crit loot roll!)


    Shoving away the last of the garbage she pulled out a cracked, but still intact computer, as well as a- ¡°Fuck!¡±


    She leapt back scrambling away from the rat¡¯s nest that had been made inside of an empty computer chassis.


    (Ah, crit fail¡­)


    Scene Consequences


    -Gathered (2D6=10 + Crit D6 = 11) Electronics.*


    *Second base die comes from Omake bonus.


    Drones should


    []-Only gather at night. (+2/turn, +Stealth Bonus)


    []-Gather whenever they can. (+4/turn)


    ---


    Having escaped the rats -and mildly regretting her efforts to get the DMs to quit killing rats- she managed to show her little drones what she wanted them to start searching for, before taking her new computer back to her lab to dissect later.


    Of course by the time she made it back to her lab she was too tired to do much of anything other than open her computer and begin working on an upgrade for her blaster protocols. A task that she continued to chip away at through the next day as she worked to figure out how to fix the glaring issues with her aimbot¡¯s motion tracking.


    The primary thing slowing her down was the fact that the bot needed to calculate the movements of a target and then adjust the lenses on her hand cannon appropriately while also compensating for any passive movements or sway she may cause.


    (You know you wouldn¡¯t have to compensate so much if you actually took the time to learn how to aim.) Her inner logic told her.


    ¡°Probably but I¡¯m pretty sure that would take more time than just upgrading the blaster protocols aimbot.¡± She frowned, while trying to figure out the fastest way to track a moving object.


    (That¡¯s right, take the easy way out. Give into the laziness and cheat.) Her inner madness encouraged with a raspy voice.


    (I feel like I should point out that hard work and effort will take you further in the long run.) Her inner conscience cut in.


    ¡°I am working hard.¡± She argued from the comfy pillow covered chair she¡¯d made in her free time. ¡°I¡¯m just working smart too.¡±


    (Yes, give in to the dark side¡­ We have cook- well we had cookies. Unfortunately, we already ate them. Big sad.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Upgrade Progress: Blaster Protocols: Aim Bot Upgrade (2/3)

 Turn 69- Armor, Bots, and Ghosts

    Turn 69


    --- Maya ---


    (Nice.)


    ¡°Yes it is.¡± She couldn¡¯t help but nod as she looked over her now finished power armor.


    (Or rather the frame to a power armor.) Her inner logic corrected as they set down their tools.


    ¡°I had to start somewhere.¡± She reminded herself, walking up to the armor before opening the various latches to get into it.


    (Gah, this is taking so long¡­) Her inner child whined after the five minute mark.


    ¡°Yeah, probably going to want to do something about the latches at some point.¡± She agreed, locking her legs into the armor. ¡°But that can wait until we get the armor to something worth using all of the time.¡±


    (True, as is depending on the situation the frame could be something of a hindrance rather than a boon.) Her inner reason added.


    ¡°Mm, yeah, movements have a bit too much resistance at the moment.¡± She nodded, her arm moving ever so slightly slower with the armor than without.


    (Well, are we at least stronger with it than without?) Her inner madness asked. (Because if this is going to be one of those ¡®early game sucks, late game OP¡¯ things, then it¡¯s not going to be much help with the Bloodhounds.)


    (A valid point.) Her inner logic admitted as she picked up a stone. (Though I¡¯m fairly certain we¡¯ll have to spend an amount of time improving it one way or another.)


    ¡°Still we¡¯ve got to start somewhere.¡± She told herself, before crushing the stone in her hand. ¡°I¡¯d say this is a good place to start.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya now has a frame for her power armor.


    --Power Armor has its own separate battery from the COMP and recharges/stores power on its own.


    ---Using Armor drains 1 Power per turn.


    --While in the base frame Maya gains +1 Physical but loses -1 Reflex.


    ---Physical- Speed, Strength, Endurance


    ---Reflexes- Agility, Dexterity, Perception


    --Frame can be improved for additional stat bonuses and abilities.


    -Thanks to LCMs 1 Scrap refunded.


    ---


    ¡°How are you two still going?¡± She gasped, forcing herself to remain standing after following Ying and Izzy for so long.


    ¡°I run every morning?¡± Ying told her as if the other teen didn¡¯t understand what the big deal was.


    (Lies! She absolutely knows what the big deal is! Look at that amusement in her eyes!)


    ¡°So do I, but you¡¯re not even breaking a sweat yet.¡± Izzy argued, looking at the older girl.


    ¡°Mm, part of that is that you¡¯re still a child with a fair amount of growing to do. Give it a few years and you¡¯ll be able to handle far more than you can now.¡± Ying pointed out before tilting her head. ¡°Truthfully, you probably shouldn¡¯t be ¡®training¡¯ as much as you are at your age.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll stop training when I¡¯m better than you.¡± The younger girl challenged.


    Ying stretched her arms above her head. ¡°I¡¯m sure you will be one day, but sadly for you that is a long long way off.¡±


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°Don¡¯t patronize me.¡± Izzy glared.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m not.¡± Ying frowned. ¡°It¡¯s just I still have someone I need to surpass myself before I even think of taking it easy.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s that?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but ask, unable to think of any of their friends who were better than Ying. (At least when it comes to physical stuff anyway.)


    Ying seemed to smirk to herself as she cryptically answered, ¡°A dragon slayer.¡± and refused to elaborate.


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained thanks to Izzy and Ying gained 4XP to Mobility.


    --Currently: Currently Lv. 5 (11/12)


    ---


    ¡°Alright¡­ pull!¡±


    LCM-1A stomped on the makeshift catapult they¡¯d built for this, before realizing he weighed too little and draggin 1B over to help him. Eventually launching a small bit of rubble through the air for her to shoot at.


    ¡°Aim and¡­ fire!¡± She flexed her wrist and sent out a small blast of lightning, shooting the rubble and shattering into dust. ¡°Yes!¡±


    (Hax for the win!) Her inner passion cheered at their victory.


    (Perhaps we should fire the next one a little faster before we go cheering our victory.) Her inner reason warned her.


    ¡°Ugh, killjoy¡­¡± She groaned to herself before going to the LCMs catapult and messing with a few of the parts. ¡°Alright, that should launch things just a little faster.¡±


    (You know we really should build the LCMs their own defenses in case things with the Bloodhounds goes wrong.) Her inner madness suggested with surprising reasonableness.


    ¡°She just wants to build more dakka.¡± She pointed out, as she loaded another rock into the catapult.


    (Ah. That tracks.)


    (Our babies dakka to defend themselves!) Her inner child defended.


    ¡°Pull!¡± She told her minions, deciding to ignore her inner madness for the moment.


    The LCMs both nodded before jumping on their pressure pad and sending the next rock flying notably faster than the last one.


    ¡°Aim and¡­ fire!¡± She yelled flexing her wrist once more as she shot the rock, only to grimace as her shot just barely missed.


    (Hmm, it seems like your ¡®Hax¡¯ can only hit things moving slowly.) Her inner logic informed them. (Meaning once again, improving your actual skill proves the more favorable answer to this problem.)


    (Gah, Maya ¡®s right you are a killjoy.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Blaster Protocols upgraded to V1.4


    --Aim bonus now applies to moving targets so long as the target¡¯s Speed is less than Maya¡¯s Dexterity.


    ---


    ¡°Elizabeth!¡± She called, trying not to go too far into the Dead Woman¡¯s territory in case she was in one of her moods again.


    ¡°Maya?¡± Said Dead Woman asked, appearing behind her.


    (Do ghosts have to make the scariest entrance?)


    (Given popular myth, I believe so.)


    ¡°Hi, Elizabeth, how are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I-I¡¯ve been a good girl!¡± The Dead Woman assured her, ¡°Th-that means I get to see my little meadow flower, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ The doctors are still working on the paperwork.¡± She lied to keep the other woman calm. ¡°And well, you know how slow the doctors are with their paperwork so it might take a little bit longer.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Elizabeth blinked, her eyes seemingly glazing before the Dead Woman shook her head and locked her ghastly green eyes onto Maya¡¯s as she smiled. ¡°But, I will be able to see her soon, right? I mean you, you said you¡¯re a hero, and heroes help people!¡±


    ¡°As soon as we can manage.¡± She promised, feeling like garbage by just how much of a longshot all of this is. ¡°But why don¡¯t you tell me about her?¡±


    ¡°Tell you about her¡­¡± Elizabeth repeated before smiling wider than human as her eyes began to glow even brighter. ¡°Of course I¡¯ll tell you all about my little meadow flower! She¡¯s such a smart baby, paying attention to everything you say and even talking back to you! I mean she¡¯s talking baby talk of course but she¡¯s still oh so smart! And beautiful, she¡¯s got these beautiful green eyes so much prettier than mine¡­ And, and she has the most adorable laugh you¡¯ve ever heard!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure.¡± Maya nodded, holding back a grimace.


    ¡°Oh, I hope I haven¡¯t missed her first words.¡± Elizabeth told her with no small amount of distraught. ¡°Given how long I¡¯ve been here she might even be walking already!¡±


    Swallowing down her feelings about the fact that Elizabeth¡¯s baby was more than likely walking and talking given how many years it¡¯d been since the hospital had been shut down, she instead told the worried mother that, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how much time you two have missed, what matters is that you two have plenty of time to make up all of it.¡±


    An idea that she kept repeating to herself to justify tracking down Elizabeth¡¯s daughter in the first place.


    ¡°Y-yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± The Dead Woman nodded, looking just a little relieved.


    ¡°That reminds me, you keep calling your baby your little meadow flower, but I don¡¯t think you¡¯ve told me her real name yet.¡± She pointed out, hoping that her baby¡¯s name could help her in her search.


    ¡°Oh, I haven¡¯t, have I?¡± Elizabeth smiled in an embarrassed fashion. ¡°My meadow flower¡¯s real name is Audrey.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained (D6 + Crit D6 = 9) Intel to Elizabeth¡¯s investigation.

 Turn 70- Fire, Armor, and Minions

    Turn 70- Fire, Armor, and Minions


    --- Maya ---


    (Ugh, this is such a waste of time¡­) Her inner child groaned.


    (If we wish to build some of our more advanced ideas we require more funds, and this is the easiest way for us to acquire those funds at the moment.) Her inner logic argued, as they led another group of excited children through the M.A.D. club¡¯s halls.


    (Still this is so boring¡­)


    (Just suck it up.) She told herself, mentally due to the number of nearby witnesses if she were to let her madness leak. (And this is a complete waste of time, some of these guys have fairly decent ideas.)


    (Like Jimmy?)


    (We don¡¯t talk about Jimmy.) She snapped. (Bad things happen when we talk about-)


    ¡°Uh, is that supposed to be smoking?¡± One of the group¡¯s parents asked.


    ¡°No¡­ no it is not.¡± She sighed, pulling one of the kids back as a nearby display caught fire.


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained (2D6+13=$19) Dollars.


    ---


    (Is this truly the wisest of decisions?) Her inner reason couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Well, desperate times equal desperate measures.¡± She grimaced, still a little on the fence about this herself.


    (Quit being wussies.) Her inner passion told them. (It is always time for more dakka!)


    (Still giving the children weapons?) Her inner logic asked, as they outfitted DM-2 with her own little stabby knife on top of her head. (I repeat, is this a good idea?)


    (Pfft, let¡¯s see someone try to steal my kid¡¯s lunch money.)


    (You know I worry if we ever actually have human children.)


    ¡°Look, given how we¡¯re dealing with monsters here, I want to make sure the DMs have at least something they can defend themselves and the LCMs with.¡± She tried to justify.


    (Ooh, speaking of LCMs we should probably get them weapons too. Maybe upgrade those catapults or something?) Her inner madness suggested.


    She glanced at the LCMs and frowned as she had to actually consider it, given the circumstances. ¡°Given their size we won¡¯t be able to give them anything too heavy, which means at our current tech level we can¡¯t really give them anything that can do real damage.¡±


    (Unless we build them mechs.)


    She wasn¡¯t sure where that idea came from but it was one she found extremely awesome, (and impractical.)


    (Buzz kill.)


    (Given what we¡¯re working with it might be easier to give them something more stationary, such as a turret they can man.) Her inner reason pointed out. (Or something that the DMs can carry for them to operate.)


    ¡°I don¡¯t like the idea of making the DMs pack mules.¡± She admitted, watching the DMs play with their new upgrades.


    (Like you said though, desperate times means desperate measures.)


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ think about it.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Drone Minions upgraded to Mk. 1.2


    --In combat DMs can now attack enemies for 1 damage each of their turns.


    ---


    (You know, armor was probably something we should¡¯ve added when we first made this thing.) Her inner madness pointed out.


    ¡°There were time constraints.¡± She reminded herself as she welded down another piece of metal. ¡°I mean, I made a management program, the base frame, and a power source to run the whole thing. There is only so much I can get done in a single day.¡±


    (True¡­ But power armor without armor is just power¡­ uh¡­)


    (That didn¡¯t work out the way you wanted did it?)


    (Shut up!)


    ¡°Okay, ignoring our inner idiot.¡± She began, setting her tools to the side.


    (Yeah, see we¡¯re ignoring you now!)


    ¡°...¡±


    (...)


    ¡°Ahem, we¡¯ve now got a basic set of plating and padding over our entire power armor frame, which should let us shrug off the worst of anything those Bloodhounds do to us.¡± She finished.


    (Well, unless their claws get lucky and crit us.) Her inner paranoia pointed out. (In that case we¡¯ll probably end up bleeding out.)


    ¡°Which is why we are going to use our Healing herbs.¡± She nodded, refusing to let that morbid thought get her down. ¡°Them plus a few bandages to hold them in place should let us heal any bleeding that slips through the armor fairly easily.¡±


    (Speaking of, haven¡¯t the Bio-Pods been finished for like a week now?)


    (...)


    ¡°...¡±


    (Who¡¯s the idiot now, huh? I knew you fuckers were talking about me!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Current Power Armor Armor Bonus: (Base + Upgrade + Perk =) 3


    --Note: Armor is a flat damage reduction.


    -While wearing armor gain +5 Max PHP.


    ---


    Taking her more psychotic self¡¯s advice -(fuck you very much)- she began going through her bio-pods. Both of which she had left sitting for just a little too long if the over-sized herbs she pulled out of the first bio-pod were any indication.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve got half of what we need to build the med-bay at least.¡± She noted, while harvesting said herbs.


    (Yeah, yeah. This isn¡¯t the part everyone¡¯s excited about. Fast forward.) Her inner madness told her.


    Rolling her eyes with a sigh, she set the herbs to the side to be better preserved later, and instead made her way to her other Bio-Pod before opening it.


    (Aw, I was hoping for another set of twins.) Her inner passion whined.


    ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m just glad they¡¯re coming out alright.¡± She admitted, as slowly her newest LCM¡­ (LCM-2)-


    (...)


    ¡°What?¡±


    (You have no sense of naming conventions.)


    ¡°Shut up.¡±


    Her inner logic gave a mental sigh.


    Slowly, her newest LCM, -(I hate this name.)- LCM-2 woke up from the grogginess of her growth stasis, before blinking and looking up at Maya curiously.


    ¡°Well, hello there.¡± She greeted her newest minion by offering a finger.


    The LCM looked at her for a moment, before latching onto her finger and using it as leverage to start the climb up Maya¡¯s arm and onto her shoulder.


    ¡°Huh, you¡¯re a precocious one aren¡¯t you, LCM-2?¡± She told the little critter before frowning. ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s a bit of a mouth full and I can¡¯t just shorten it to 1A and 1B like I do the other LCMs¡­ How about we call you M2 for short?¡±


    M2 tilted her head to the side before nodding as she accepted that name.


    (DM-2 and M2, don¡¯t you think that¡¯s going to get a bit confusing at some point?) Her inner reason asked.


    (Pfft, what kind of mother mixes up her children¡¯s names?)


    Briefly she remembered the numerous times her own mam¨¢ had stuttered through her and her siblings names before landing on the right one when she was angry.


    (I actually believe that¡¯s quite common when a parent has numerous children and is angry.)


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure Seamus spent a few months thinking his name was ¡®V-T-M-Iz-Seamus¡¯.¡± She agreed.


    (Well, if you run down the list of names one of them''s got to be the guilt party.)


    ¡°Still, ignoring our family dysfunction. We should introduce M2 to the rest of the minions.¡± She reminded herself.


    (That way they can get started on their dysfunction!)


    Scene Consequences


    -*Overgrown Crit* Gained 2 Healing Herbs.


    -New Minion: LCM-2


    --*Overgrown Crit* LCM-2 gains [Precocious Thinker] Trait..


    ---Once a Week LCM-2 will provide us with a random Free Crit. (Note: You really lucked out on this one given how next turn is the start of a new week.)


    -*Skill Level Up* Biology Lv. 3 (0/8)

 Turn 71: Dungeons and Minions

    Turn 71: Dungeons and Minions


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Okay, and just steady that lens.¡± She told 1A and 1B as she adjusted several wires. ¡°And hit it M2!¡±


    Her newest minion leapt onto her keyboard and pressed a button causing the piece held by the other LCMs to slowly glow before firing a blast of light and leaving a scorch mark in the wall.


    ¡°Ha, yes!¡± She laughed, having finally managed to dial the amount of light those bulbs generated to a level they could actually damage something.


    (Now we can smite our enemies with our divine light!) Her inner megalomaniac cackled.


    (Actually, what is the difference between fire and light here?) Her inner logic asked (like the wet blanket she is.)


    (Quite.)


    ¡°Uh, I think it¡¯s got to do with this thing involving photons and molecular stability?¡± She guessed, having not actually worked with her [Heat(+)] energy beyond using it as a blowtorch.


    (Ugh, light carries energy directly by applying it to an object. In most cases this results in an accelerated application of heat in comparison to our standard heat due to the energy colliding with matter. Additionally, due to the photons themselves knocking electrons out of the matter, it causes the matter to develop a positive charge similar to static electricity. Which means on a basic level that light damage is technically a hybrid of both heat and electricity. What¡¯s more, when you take the photon charge and hit enough electrons at the right point you can destabilize a molecule causing it to split into its base elements, giving it a sort of atomic damage too.) Her inner madness explained in a put upon voice.


    (...)


    (...)


    (Oh, come on! The answer was so obvious and neither of you got it?!)


    ¡°You know sometimes I forget you¡¯re more than just my id.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Hand Cannons can now use [Light] ammo, allowing them to cause Light damage and apply [Blind] on crits.


    --Blind reduces Perception and Reflexes by half each.


    Fun Fact: I actually looked up a research paper on the application of light/ the effects of photons on matter when figuring this out.


    ---


    Putting the finishing touches on her Hand Cannon upgrades, she found her attention being drawn to her minions where M2 was interacting with the other LCMs, neither of whom quite knew what to do about the third of their kind just yet.


    1B was attempting to be nice, trying to show off every little bit and bauble the little critter had collected from the spare parts of her various projects. All while 1A stood on the sidelines watching M2 with -what she assumed was- a calculating expression, as the female LCM looked at everything 1B presented with an expression of curiosity and wonderment.


    Eventually 1A walked closer to the pair before swiping one of the baubles from 1B and inspecting it while the other LCM pouted for a moment before shrugging and going back to his pile of things.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    M2 seemed to glare at 1A who in turn gave her an unimpressed look.


    Suddenly M2¡¯s tail swept across the ground knocking 1A off of his feet and sending the bauble flying into the air where M2 snatched it before making her way to 1B and offering him back his trinket.


    1A dusted himself off and sent a glare towards -M2 who gave him a smug little wave- before turning and marching off to (likely plot vengeance if he¡¯s anything like us.)


    (Well at least her and 1B are getting along¡­)


    (I can already tell this is going to be fun.)


    ---


    (Are we sure this is a wise idea?) Her inner reason asked.


    ¡°Not really but we need somewhere to test out our gear before we get into a real fight.¡± She reminded herself. ¡°And given how this whole thing is supposed to work this is probably as close as we¡¯re going to get to combat experience against those Bloodhounds.¡±


    (Still this seems like a bad idea given what we know.)


    ¡°Well, the website said people don¡¯t have to take their power ups.¡± She assured herself as she made her way to the entrance of the Gamer Guild¡¯s Dungeon, her eyes idly drifting to the various carnival style stands that were littered around the park clearing.


    (On the flipside this is something we¡¯ve wanted to do for years so¡­ yay?) Her inner madness offered unsurely.


    ¡°Right.¡± She sighed, standing at the entrance tent to the dungeon as she once more considered how bad of an idea this was, as she had every few minutes on her entire trip here.


    (Who are we kidding? This can only end in disaster¡­) Her inner pessimist groaned as she stepped into the tent to find what she assumed was the attendant arguing with someone.


    ¡°-step up our game if we want to help cover everything up. Especially with things being worse this year than the last few.¡± A familiar shade wearing man with headphones around his neck explained.


    (Actually why does this guy look familiar?)


    ¡°Look boss, I get where you¡¯re coming from but I also know the GM told me not to let you do this after those teens trashed the dungeon with that weird Madness interaction. She wants things to stay nice and stable.¡±


    (Uh, Maya this suddenly became a much worse idea¡­)


    ¡°Gah, where¡¯s the fun in that?¡±


    (Why?)


    ¡°It¡¯s in the exact same place it was when Edge and Pike tried this.¡±


    (Oh, I¡¯ve been waiting for this for so long.)


    ¡°Wait those fuckers tried to take over the dungeon?¡±


    (Waiting on what?!) She frowned.


    ¡°Yes. Just like you, Decker.¡±


    ¡°Ah, shit.¡± She cursed, eyes going wide.


    Both of the Gamer¡¯s Guild Gangsters turned towards her and she froze on the spot as Decker frowned, clearly realizing she looked familiar but not sure where.


    ¡°As you can see I¡¯ve got someone to deal with Decker so do you mind?¡±


    Decker snapped his fingers with a smile. ¡°Ah, ah, actually I¡¯ve got this one.¡±


    ¡°I already told you that¡¯s not going to-¡±


    ¡°No, no, I know this one.¡± Decker told the attendant. ¡°She and I¡¯ve got this, uh, rapport.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± The attendant asked, clearly not believing the gang lieutenant.


    ¡°Yeah, come on gamer girl, back me up here.¡± Decker implored her.


    (We should just turn around and walk away.) Her inner logic told her.


    (Ah, but I wanted to run the dungeon!) Her inner child whined.


    (We have a gang lieutenant that we fought trying to drag us into something unknown.)


    (Hey, he seemed like a fun pendejo, and besides we kicked his ass once we could do it again.)


    (He was likely taking it easy on us.)


    (Maybe, but if he isn¡¯t doing anything wrong we might be able to wrangle a favor out of him.)


    (That¡¯s not worth risking our safety over-)


    ¡°Well kid, do you know this guy?¡± The attendant asked her in resignation.

 The Gamer Guilds Dungeon (Entrance): A Deal With Decker

    The Gamer Guilds¡¯ Dungeon (Entrance): A Deal With Decker


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Yeah, we know each other.¡± She sighed in resignation equal only to the attendant.


    Said attendant gave her a look even as Decker laughed, ¡°You sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡± She nodded.


    ¡°See I told you I knew her.¡± Decker grinned. ¡°Meaning¡­¡±


    ¡°Meaning you can DM her dungeon.¡± The attendant reluctantly conceded, before giving Decker a look. ¡°But don¡¯t change anything too drastic. The system is still wonky after that mess last week.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll only use my own Madness.¡± The gang lieutenant promised, hand in the air and smile as innocent as a thief in the night.


    The attendant shook his head before giving her a look as he passed. ¡°I hope you know what you¡¯re getting yourself into, kid.¡±


    (Well, that bodes well¡­) Her inner reason commented dryly.


    ¡°Gamer girl, long time no see!¡± Decker greeted once they were alone. ¡°Was hoping I¡¯d have heard something about you by now, but I guess you M.A.D.s always were big on your ¡®build and prep¡¯ stuff.¡±


    ¡°What is it you wanted from me, pendejo?¡± She asked, already regretting this.


    (Warned you.)


    (Hey, hey. Let¡¯s let this ride for now.)


    ¡°Ah, don¡¯t be like that.¡± Decker pouted, hand to his chest.


    She merely gave him a dry look.


    The gang lieutenant rolled his eyes, losing most of his playfulness. ¡°Fine. So long story short, about a week ago some shit happened and the dungeon got messed up. Normally not a big deal, power interactions happen and the GM built the system to fix itself. Only she¡¯s been acting funny this last week and this took a lot longer to fix than any of us are comfortable with, especially since my little sister was involved in this mess.¡±


    (Sense of danger rising.)


    (Sense of fun rising.)


    She pinched the bridge of her nose before giving Decker a look. ¡°And what exactly does this have to do with me?¡±


    ¡°Honestly? Nothing.¡± The gang lieutenant admitted. ¡°Or at least nothing until the GM decided to not let anyone check the dungeon¡¯s code. At which point I needed an excuse to have DM privileges for the dungeon.¡± Decker pointed two fingers at her. ¡°Enter you.¡±


    There was a fair bit in all of that for her to dissect, but the thing that stood out to her reality hacking self, was ¡°The dungeon has code?¡±


    Decker made a so-so gesture. ¡°It¡¯s not like computer code, so much as it is how the Madness flows and interacts with things. If you work with Madness enough you can learn to read it, even if we can¡¯t read it as well as the GM who has a sort of instinctive understanding of it all.¡±


    ¡°Shame¡­¡± (Might¡¯ve been something we could learn in there.)


    ¡°Yeah, it is what it is.¡± Decker shrugged, clearly misunderstanding her. ¡°Anyway, normally the GM doesn¡¯t mind if someone wants to give her a break and DM a few runs, but she¡¯s hiding something and we¡¯re worried about what that could be.¡±


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Is it safe for the dungeon to be open if something like that is going on?¡± She frowned, thinking this entire thing sounded kind of sketchy.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that kind of problem, the system itself is designed with so many safety contingencies and limiters that people going through it are perfectly safe.¡± The gang lieutenant assured her. ¡°Unfortunately, none of those apply to the GM¡¯s side of the connection.¡±


    (That doesn¡¯t really reassure me.) She thought dryly before sighing. ¡°What exactly do you need me to do?¡±


    ¡°Not much, at least since you were going into the dungeon anyway.¡± Decker answered. ¡°Since we actually know each other, I can use a bit of wiggle room in the GM¡¯s orders and my rank privileges to DM your run, but only your run. If you were an actual member of the guild your run would register on our scoreboards, but due to not being part of the guild I can cover this whole thing up while I¡¯m DMing.¡±


    ¡°Okay, you still haven¡¯t told me what you need me to do.¡± She pointed out.


    ¡°Right. I just need you to last as long as possible in the dungeon, while actually running through it so as to prevent flagging anything odd with her powers.¡± Decker explained. ¡°The longer you last the longer I can go through the code to see if the GM is hiding anything from us that we should know about.¡±


    ¡°That sounds easy enough.¡± She admitted with just a touch of skepticism.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t be asking if it wasn¡¯t.¡± Decker told her. ¡°So what do you say? I¡¯ll owe you a solid if you help me out here.¡±


    Normally she¡¯d probably back out at this point, or at least give the decision a little more thought, but at the same time she also knew there were a lot of things going on that she could use some help with. (Be it Elizabeth¡¯s situation, Tommy¡¯s, or even just those Bloodhounds at the hospital. A favor from a lieutenant in one of the largest gangs in the city could be a big deal if I use it right¡­)


    (Yet again, this seems like a bad idea.) Her inner logic told her once more.


    (To me this seems like a side-quest.) Her inner madness argued.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll help you out.¡± She nodded.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Decker fistpumped, before pointing at her. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ¡°So what first?¡± She asked, not actually sure how this whole thing worked.


    ¡°Well, since I¡¯m covering this up, we won¡¯t be recording any of this so the paperwork is unnecessary. And you¡¯ve got a mask already from the looks of it, so we don¡¯t need to get you one of those either.¡± Decker listed off one by one. ¡°Meaning all you really have to do is enter the dungeon and take your power up.¡±


    She glared at the gang lieutenant. ¡°You didn¡¯t mention anything about taking a power-up.¡±


    ¡°Right, this thing.¡± Decker sighed, running a hand down his face. ¡°The power-ups aren¡¯t addictive, beyond the concept of giving power to the powerless. They¡¯re made from Madness, which has a lot of power interactions which is probably what threw you off at my show a couple months ago. Being an M.A.D. I¡¯d guess it¡¯d inspire a few new inventions when you get out of here. What¡¯s more you don¡¯t actually have to take the power-up if you don¡¯t want it, plenty of people run the dungeon without them. Fair?¡±


    She continued to glare at him for another minute before nodding. ¡°Fair.¡±


    ¡°Alright, then the entrance to the dungeon is through there.¡± Decker told her gesturing to the tent exit.


    She gave the gang lieutenant and arguably her first supervillain another look before stepping out of the tent and finding herself in front of hill with a stone archway built into it surrounded by a number of trees.


    (Really, leaning into that fantasy dungeon thing.)


    (Ooh, this is going to be so much fun!) Her inner madness squealed as she walked under the archway and started making her way down a series of stone steps with the occasional torch burning on the cave walls.


    Eventually she came to a large stone door with a number of images carved into it.


    Pushing open the doors she heard a faint build up of music around her before a burst of wind pushed past slamming the doors open and sending her stumbling into the center of a circle of pedestals. Each with a beam of light shining down through the ceiling above.


    (You do realize that it is physically impossible for light to come down this far and be this bright right?) Her inner logic commented.


    (Shut up, you¡¯re ruining the magic!) Her inner child hissed.


    Glancing around she took in each of the pedestals containing a number of hovering objects and weapons, and all the while a voice whispered from the world around her. ¡°Choose your path young adventurer, or carve out your own, but know that only you may choose the path you walk. So choose wisely and walk it to its end.¡±

 Gamer Guild鈥檚 Dungeon (First Floor): The Rat Warren

    Gamer Guild¡¯s Dungeon (First Floor): The Rat Warren


    --- Maya ---


    While the gamer in her was tempted to take one of the weapon power-ups and unlock their class, the more practical part of her remembered the fact that the entire reason she¡¯d come here was to test out her tech before dealing with the Bloodhounds.


    (And I don¡¯t care what Decker says I don¡¯t entirely trust those power ups anyway.)


    (Ooh, caution for once lovely.) Her inner reason applauded as she looked around the room.


    ¡°I guess if I¡¯m not taking a power up I just go through these doors then.¡± She noted making her way to a second set of stone doors.


    ¡°To carve one¡¯s path takes courage and might, continue on to your first fight.¡± The voice told her as the various power ups disappeared and the stone doors began to open on their own.


    ¡°Right, through the doors then.¡± She accepted, following the path down a dirt tunnel of some kind. ¡°Wonder what the first monster is going to be?¡±


    (Probably going to be something easy like giant spiders or goblins.)


    A faint skittering sound filled the air, and she couldn¡¯t help but glance around in search of its source.


    (Actually, I don¡¯t believe it has a source. It sounds similar enough to the narrator in location, that it¡¯s likely a sound effect to hint at what we¡¯re up against.) Her inner logic pieced together.


    ¡°That makes a certain amount of sense,¡± she nodded. ¡°Seeing as how they probably need to set up atmosphere and stuff if we don¡¯t just want to wander through empty tunnels for a couple of hours.¡±


    (So, skittering means giant spiders, right?)


    (Likely.)


    Stepping into a larger cave room she found herself alone with not a giant spider but rather a rat, and not even a very large rat at that.


    ¡°Well, this is a let down¡­¡± She sighed, before shaking her head and idly blasting the rat with her hand cannons as she passed it by.


    (Hold up.) Her inner child stopped her. (It dropped loot!)


    Reaching down she picked up, ¡°A rat skull?¡± and frowned.


    (If it does nothing¡­ then perhaps it¡¯s a form of treasure for a shop or something of that sort.) Her inner reason suggested.


    (Yeah, this is probably that junk loot that we sell for our early gold in a fantasy game.)


    (But this raises the question of if we should buy equipment from the shop, since their wares are very likely similar to the power-ups.)


    ¡°Yeah, that could be a problem.¡± She agreed before tucking the skull into a pocket deciding that she could figure it out later.


    Continuing through to the next room, she found a swarm of rats waiting for her in the center of the room.


    ¡°Well, that confirms the first floor being a rat theme.¡± She noted, before looking at the group of rats. ¡°Think our hand cannon bursts are big enough to hit all of them at once?¡±


    (Mm, not at this distance.) Her inner madness answered. (On burst mode they work more like a shotgun and can barely hit at a distance, and then our ranged mode would probably only hit a couple of them at a time.)


    (True, but on burst our Sound shots have a fairly wider range so if we get close enough we should be able to get all of them at once.) Her inner logic added. (And well we are here to test our tech so¡­)


    ¡°Right.¡± Figuring that the rats weren¡¯t a major threat unless she let them swarm her, she inched as close as she could before the swarm turned its attention towards her.


    There was a second of silence between them as she and the rats seemed to just stare each other down for a moment, before one of them lunged at her leaping through the air and startling her enough to reflexively shoot it with a Sound Burst and a shriek.


    ¡°I did not shriek!¡± She argued in what could still be considered a shriek, as she fired off a couple more bursts to mop up the rest of the rats, shattering each one into the swarm of pixels she vaguely remembered from her fight with Decker.


    (I don¡¯t know, it did sound kind of shriek-y.)


    Shaking her head with a light growl, she picked up a handful of coins that the rats had dropped before reloading her hand cannons as she made her way towards the next room, where she found something that drew her up just short enough to lose most of her embarrassed rage.


    ¡°That is a big fucking rat.¡± She said, staring at the rat large enough to give their pit bull Missy a run for her money.


    (Yeah¡­ Want to try shooting it from a distance?)


    ¡°If we¡¯re doing that, electric rounds might be better.¡± She told herself, cycling the Hand Cannon and changing all of the LEDs on it blue as it reloaded with a different ammo type.


    Raising her hand she pointed one of her hands at the giant rat fired a bolt of lightning sending it flying across the room but apparently not dealing enough damage to actually kill it as the dungeon monster was left spasming on the ground.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Huh, figured we¡¯d one shot it given how easily we killed Decker¡¯s wolves.¡± She admitted, before firing another bolt at her stunned opponent, causing it to shatter into a swarm of pixels as it dropped another rat skull.


    (If you recall, several of his wolves took more than one shot to put down, and we haven¡¯t actually improved our Hand Cannons that much given how long we¡¯ve had them.) Her inner reason reminded her.


    (Yeah, most of our upgrades have been adding range and accuracy through aimbots or new damage types, but we haven¡¯t actually upped our dakka¡¯s damage output.) Her inner madness agreed for once. (That¡¯s because we need more Dakka than just our starting weapon! New debuffs are fun and all, but we aren¡¯t even getting the damage debuffs!)


    She frowned, staring at her Hand Cannons as she realized that of her numerous inventions and upgrades, she really hadn¡¯t done much to improve her firepower. With all of her upgrades having been focused on more defensive or utilitarian purposes than anything legitimately offensive. Despite now having three different elements she could use for her Hand Cannons, they all still had roughly the same energy input and damage output, neither of which were amounts intended for anything stronger than your average thug. (Which is probably why it took so many shots to take down that one Bloodhound.)


    (Something we should probably aim to correct before we actually fight a pack of them.) Her inner logic warned her. (And even if we don¡¯t upgrade our Hand Cannons at the very least we should figure out some form of offense to aid us. )


    ¡°Well, if we¡¯re lucky they¡¯ll be weak to light.¡± She grimaced, knowing how weak that argument was before shaking her head. ¡°We¡¯ve still got a few days, we can figure something out on that front, but for now we have to deal with-¡± A rat landed on her. ¡°What the fuck?!¡±


    Small claws began to cling and grab at her as the rat crawled all over her in her attempts to get it off of her.


    (It¡¯s in our hair! Kill it! Kill it!)


    (Just keep calm and grab it!)


    Eventually she managed to grab the rat, throw it onto the ground, and stomp it to death with her shoes, leaving her a panting mess as she slowly calmed down.


    ¡°Fuck you¡­¡± She gasped before looking around to make sure there wasn¡¯t another rat hiding somewhere to try and jump scare her.


    (There¡¯s not but I¡¯m seeing a treasure chest over there.)


    Walking up to the chest she got ready to open it before freezing and giving the chest a suspicious look. ¡°What are the odds that this thing is a mimic?¡±


    (Given how it¡¯s the first floor, fairly low.) Her inner reason figured.


    (Never know, if Decker ¡®s the DM he could screw us over here.)


    (Perhaps, but that depends on how much control he actually has to change the dungeon. In all likelihood he¡¯s stuck using whatever floor theme the dungeon already has.)


    She considered it for a moment before readying her Hand Cannon with one hand and opening the chest with the other. When nothing tried to attack her she let out a breath of air before reaching into the chest and pulling out a red vial.


    ¡°Healing potion?¡± She guessed, shaking it as she held the liquid up to a nearby torchlight.


    (Most likely. Though I¡¯m curious as to if drinking this is safe given our limited understanding of the Gamer Guild¡¯s power ups.)


    (Ugh, yeah, even if this thing is liquid madness that¡¯s probably not something we want to drink¡­)


    ¡°Maybe, but given how many people have been through this dungeon, I doubt it¡¯ll kill us if we drink it.¡± She pointed out, before trying to find a place to stash the vial on herself. (Note to self get more pockets or pouches or something.)


    (Noted.)


    Eventually finding somewhere to stash the vial, she continued through the tunnels and into a large room with a set of stairs beginning halfway across and leading to a small throne with an even smaller anthropomorphic rat sitting on it while wearing a crown and wielding a scepter.


    ¡°I guess this guy is supposed to be the floor boss?¡± She figured looking the more unique rat monster over. ¡°He¡¯s some kind of¡­ rat king?¡±


    (Meh, the LCMs can kick his ass.) Her inner madness dismissed.


    (Perhaps, but we shouldn¡¯t dismiss him as a threat just yet.) Her inner reason reminded her.


    ¡°Yeah, a boss is a boss.¡± She nodded while wondering if she was close enough to snipe it from outside of its aggro range.


    (Mm, we could but we might get an aiming penalty at this distance.)


    ¡°Well that¡¯s what the aimbot is for.¡± She told herself, raising a hand and aiming it at the Rat King before unleashing a bolt of electricity and pinning it to its throne as electricity cackled between the two.


    (You didn¡¯t kill it but you seem to have paralyzed it at least.)


    (Which means we can zap it again!) Her inner passion cheered for, (More Dakka!)


    Seeing no reason not to, she readied her hand cannon before firing another bolt and finishing off the paralyzed dungeon monster in a small swarm of pixels.


    ¡°Well¡­ that was anticlimactic.¡± She said, just barely realizing that what she thought was supposed to be boss battle music was dying before it¡¯d gotten loud enough for her to hear.


    (Pfft, just means we¡¯re overleveled for this floor.)


    ¡°Eh, maybe, but I still feel a bit ripped off.¡± She admitted, walking up to where the boss had died to see what loot it dropped.


    (Well, given how it was a ¡®king¡¯ boss in all likelihood it would¡¯ve summoned more rats had we not instantly stunned it with our first shot.) Her inner logic pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah, that fits.¡± She nodded, before her inner Madness screeched as she spotted another Rat Skull. ¡°What the fuck?!¡±


    (I just realized we could¡¯ve farmed the rat summons for loot!)


    She paused with her hands on the skull. ¡°That¡­ they wouldn¡¯t have let us do that, would they?¡±


    (Um¡­ In our experience that seems to vary a bit depending on what system the dungeon is using. Meaning¡­ fifty-fifty?)


    ¡°No, no.¡± She denied. ¡°They wouldn¡¯t have let us farm the boss like that, at best they¡¯d let us keep maybe whatever the first¡­ summons¡­ dropped¡­¡±


    She inhaled deeply before letting it out slowly.


    ¡°...¡±


    (...)


    (...)


    ¡°Motherfucking son of a bitch! Pinche pendejo system of a¡­ Fuck!¡± She spat, before running a hand through her hair and forcing herself to calm down. ¡°Okay, okay, not a major problem. This is just the first level, missing a few common drops is a hiccup, but it¡¯s not going to ruin our playthrough.¡±


    (Unless they were supposed to drop a quest item of some kind, that we need for the final boss.)


    ¡°...¡±


    (...)


    (Right. Not helping. Sorry.)


    Forcing herself not to think about it she made her way around the throne and quickly spotted a short tunnel that she could see a light at the end of. Making her way through it she found herself in another large room though instead of any items this time there were a trio of chests with a symbol of a sword, a piece of armor, and a round potion vial that looked notably different than the actual vials she¡¯d found in the dungeon.


    As soon as she stepped into the room the narrator from the very first room spoke up once more from all around her, ¡°Congratulations hero on overcoming the first true hurdle of your adventure. Before you stands the reward of your valiant efforts, though be warned that you may only choose one of these prizes to make your own, be it a weapon to arm yourself, armor to defend, or potions to mend, choose one and choose wisely.¡±

 Gamer Guild鈥檚 Dungeon (First Break Room): Secondary Objectives

    Gamer Guild¡¯s Dungeon (First Break Room): Secondary Objectives


    --- Maya ---


    (Is there really a choice here?) Her inner logic asked.


    ¡°Uh, what do you mean?¡±


    (We¡¯ve already established the rule that we wouldn¡¯t use any power-ups meaning that this choice is somewhat pointless.)


    (Wait, we really aren¡¯t taking a power up?) Her inner madness whined. (That means all the loot we find is completely pointless!)


    She couldn¡¯t help but grimace at that, the idea hurting her inner gamer.


    (Yes, yes, it really does hurt, thank you!)


    ¡°Well, maybe we can take the potions with us?¡± She tried compromising. ¡°I mean, even if we don¡¯t take them, maybe we¡¯ll find something useful if we study them back at the lab.¡±


    (As long as we aren¡¯t taking it ourselves, it should be safe.) Her inner reason accepted.


    (Ugh, fine¡­)


    With that settled she made her way to the chest and the moment she put her hands on it the other two flashed out of existence. What was far more interesting than this detail however, was the tune that began to play in the background at the same time.


    (Is that?)


    (It¡¯s close but not quite accurate.)


    (Probably need to protect themselves from copyright infringement.)


    Opening the chest as the music built to a crescendo revealed a single red vial similar to the one she¡¯d found just a little bit prior.


    ¡°Only one potion?¡± She frowned, picking the vial up as a second tune played in the background before leaving her in silence.


    (Well, it is only the first floor.) Her inner logic reminded her.


    ¡°I guess, still a disappointing loot drop.¡± She sighed, stashing the vial with her other one. ¡°So where to next?¡±


    A nearby stone wall began to shake before sliding open to reveal a hidden passageway.


    (That answers that question.)


    Walking closer to the exit she found a set of stairs and torches similar to the ones she¡¯d gone down to enter the dungeon before making her way down them.


    After another flight of stairs she found herself in front of another stone doorway.


    ¡°Alright, second floor let¡¯s see what we¡¯re up against.¡± She told herself as she began to push the doors open.


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    Only instead of finding another room full of monsters she found herself looking at another set of stairs across from her and a ladder leading up to a light in the ceiling on her right, while on her left was-


    ¡°Is that the Merchant?!¡± She squealed.


    (He looks more like an expy, similar but not quite the same.) Her inner reason disagreed.


    (Okay, I don¡¯t care about copyright protections. You¡¯re ruining the fantasy.) Her inner passion growled.


    (Agreed.)


    The figure in a blue trench coat and wearing a scarf over his face gave her a laugh while calling, ¡°Over here stranger.¡±


    She started to excitedly make her way towards the merchant only to freeze as something occurred to her.


    (No.)


    (Is he going to be selling anything other than power ups?)


    (No. No. No.)


    She couldn¡¯t help but grimace as she realized that in all likelihood the dungeon Merchant, only sold supplies for the dungeon and in all likelihood they were going to all be power ups similar to the dungeon¡¯s as well.


    (Don¡¯t you two fucking ruin this for me!)


    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± She groaned, realizing what she had to do.


    (Motherfucker! Tu pinche brujas!)


    Forcing herself to look away from the Merchant and the temptations of his store, she instead turned towards the stairs and forced herself to walk down them without talking to the man.


    (Fucking hell!) Her inner madness cursed, before continuing to curse for the next minute straight only stopping when they came to another set of stone doors and a sort of chime cut through the air.


    ¡°Oi, Gamer Girl, can you hear me?¡±


    ¡°Decker?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Ah, good you can.¡± Decker told her before elaborating that he, ¡°Needed to ask you something about this next floor before you instantiated it.¡±


    ¡°Uh, what did you need to ask?¡± She asked with a fair bit of trepidation.


    ¡°Okay, so you remember how I told you the GM was hiding several things about the Dungeon? Well, one of the anomalies seems to be on this floor.¡± Decker answered. ¡°Admittedly the GM has this patch over it that keeps most players from running into it, but there is still something going on with this floor and I was hoping you could check it out.¡±


    She crossed her arms. ¡°What exactly do you need me to do?¡±


    ¡°Well, I told you that the longer you¡¯re fighting in the dungeon the more info I can gather, that still holds true, but if I load the unpatched version of the floor then I¡¯ll be able to gather more info about what¡¯s going on.¡± The Guild Lieutenant explained. ¡°But at the same time this unpatched floor will probably be tougher than the floor normally is, and in a way that I can¡¯t really figure out without you being in the middle of it for a fair bit.¡±


    ¡°Okay, so you¡¯re giving me a heads up that this next floor is going to be harder?¡± She figured.


    ¡°Eh, not quite.¡± Decker disagreed. ¡°Like I said this next floor hasn¡¯t actually instantiated yet, meaning that I can still load the patched or unpatched versions of it. The reason this is something I¡¯m bringing to you is because while loading the unpatched version will give me a better idea of what happened in the dungeon, the higher difficulty will also burn through your resources faster. Meaning you might not be able to go as deeply into the dungeon overall, which honestly will be a bigger deal for you than me given how it affects your End of Dungeon score.¡±


    ¡°My what?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Basically it¡¯s the score that decides what kind of prizes you get when you exit the dungeon.¡± Decker elaborated. ¡°It¡¯s mostly based on how many floors you manage to clear overall, though certain secondary objectives can also influence it. Though given how I¡¯m not supposed to be DMing right now, mine will be under more scrutiny so I won¡¯t be able to give you any points for helping me out with this.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    Essentially Decker was asking her if she wanted to raise the difficulty of this next floor for no extra benefit to herself. Which would likely put her through a ringer and exhaust her faster than running the dungeon at its base level would, thus reducing how deeply she could go into it. But in exchange, doing this would help him along with his investigation of whatever was going on with the Gamer¡¯s Guild.


    ¡°So which version of things do you want me to load?¡± Decker asked her after a moment.


    She thought about it for a little longer before telling him to

 Gamer Guild鈥檚 Dungeon (Second Floor): Kobold鈥檚 Keep

    Gamer Guild¡¯s Dungeon (Second Floor): Kobold¡¯s Keep


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Load the unpatched version.¡±


    ¡°Alright, thanks for doing this.¡± Decker told him as the whispers became agitated by something.


    (Wonder what¡¯s up?)


    (Perhaps we¡¯re picking up the shift in Madness?) Her inner reason offered.


    (Could be.)


    ¡°Okay, and everything should be loaded up.¡± Decker said just as the whispers began to die down. ¡°And just a tip, you might not want to bother with the chests on this floor now. Given the spike in difficulty the few coins and trinkets they drop probably aren¡¯t going to be worth it in the long run, so a straight shot to the boss is probably your best bet.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll remember that.¡± She nodded, before pushing the stone doors open to reveal a large cave chamber with brickwork flooring, the usual torches on the wall, and (is that a rabbit trap?)


    (I¡­ believe so.) Her inner logic reluctantly admitted as they stared at a box propped up by a stick connected to a little rope loop.


    (Maybe this is supposed to be the first dungeon trap?) Her inner madness suggested.


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­ they can¡¯t expect anyone to actually fall for this can they?¡± She frowned, easily walking around the ¡®trap¡¯.


    (Well it is the first trap so¡­ let¡¯s just keep our eyes open for worse.) Her inner reason told her.


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Shaking her head she moved to open the doors to the next room when-


    (Wait, do you think this is one of those systems where we get bonus points for disabling the traps?) Her inner child asked.


    She stayed frozen in front of the door for a good minute before turning on her heel walking behind the box, picking it up, and flipping it over so that it couldn¡¯t trap anything else.


    A little blue screen appeared in front of her face saying, [Hidden Objective Cleared: Disable The Clever Kobold Trap. Bonus points will be rewarded at the end of the dungeon.]


    ¡°Huh, neat.¡±


    With that taken care of she made her way back to the door and pushed it open to find a short hall leading to the next room.


    ¡°So, I know this floor is supposed to be a higher difficulty than normal, but what do you think this floor¡¯s monster is?¡± She idly asked, figuring that if the last room was a trap room then this next one had to have some monsters to fight in it.


    (Since they¡¯re doing classic dungeon monsters¡­ goblins maybe? Or bandits?) Her inner Madness suggested. (Both would fit having traps on their floor depending on what game their based off of.)


    (I doubt it¡¯ll be bandits, given how they¡¯d be too human for most people to handle fighting and killing.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯d be a fucked up level if they made us fight and kill people.¡± She had to agree.


    Opening the next set of doors she found three small humanoid lizard creatures sitting around a small campfire.


    ¡°Uh, what are these things supposed to be?¡± She frowned, not actually able to recognize these creatures from her vast video game knowledge.


    (I¡¯m not sure but they must fit the ¡®fantasy dungeon¡¯ theme somehow.)


    (Maybe they¡¯re like a tabletop monster or something?) Her inner madness suggested.


    ¡°But I don¡¯t recognize them from Deviant¡¯s Masquerade¡¯s handbook?¡±


    (You do remember that there are tabletop games other than ours don¡¯t you?)


    ¡°Mm, I guess if they were willing to make a ¡®gamer¡¯ gang these guys would be bigger nerds than me.¡± She admitted after a moment of thought before shaking her head. ¡°Either way we¡¯ve got monsters to kill.¡±


    Stepping into the room she raised her Hand Cannon, ready to shoot the dungeon creatures and quickly clear this room, before something stabbed her in the back.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± She cursed spinning as she elbowed a fourth creature that had been hiding behind the door before blasting it into pixels with her cannons.


    Putting a hand to her back she was relieved to find that despite how much it had hurt there wasn¡¯t any blood from where the lizard had stabbed her.


    A couple rocks caught her in the shoulder and she remembered that she wasn¡¯t quite safe yet as she turned back to the remaining kobolds and unloaded the rest of her Hand Cannons clips as she zapped them into oblivion.


    Glancing around to make sure she was really alone she eventually let out a shaky breath as the adrenaline left her. ¡°Fuck, was not expecting that.¡±


    (Well I suppose that the trap in the first room should¡¯ve warned us that this floor was going to be¡­ trickier than the first.) Her inner reason pointed out. (And of course that¡¯s before we take into account the fact that this floor is of a higher difficulty than it¡¯s supposed to be.)


    ¡°Right, just¡­ just going to have to keep my eyes open I guess.¡± She sighed before collecting all of her loot as she tried to stop the faint shaking in her hands.


    (...)


    Once her spoils of war were gathered she took note of the fact that this room had two doors to it other than the entrance. ¡°So based on what Decker said one of these must lead to a treasure chest and one of them must lead to the actual way we¡¯re supposed to go.¡±


    (He also said the wise thing is to go straight for the floor boss as without the patch the chests aren¡¯t worth the difficulty of their fights.) Her inner logic reminded her.


    (Yeah, but it¡¯s treasure!) Her inner greed giggled with just a touch of mania. (Are we really going to ignore it because of a fight?)


    ¡°My head says I shouldn¡¯t, but my heart says I should.¡± She considered for a moment before walking towards the side room. ¡°Well it¡¯s not like I actually know which door leads towards the boss room.¡±


    (True.)


    Walking through the short hall between rooms she couldn¡¯t help but pause as she stood in front of the door to the next room, a faint ache coming from where that lizard person had stabbed her earlier.


    (Maya?)


    She shook her head before sighing. ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    Pushing the door open ever so slightly she peeked through to make sure nothing was hiding behind it, before sticking her head through just enough to check the other side. Upon seeing that she was relatively safe she instead shifted her attention to the three lizards messing with the treasure chest.


    Carefully raising her Hand Cannon and switching it to Burst fire she inched ever closer, hoping that they¡¯d remain distracted with trying to open the chest.


    ¡°You sure this is going to work?¡± One of the lizards- (Holy shit these fuckers can talk!)


    (Yeah, that¡¯s uh¡­ That¡¯s a thing¡­) She agreed.


    It took her a moment before she creeped out of the room and back into the hall.


    ¡°Uh, Decker?¡± She called, hoping he was listening.


    ¡°Yes, kind of in the middle of something, what do you need?¡± The gang lieutenant asked in a hurried tone.


    ¡°Um, these monsters aren¡¯t sapient right? Because I heard them talking, and I¡¯m not sure if that was programmed or if I¡¯ve killed a group of living creatures.¡± She explained with just a hint of delayed trauma.


    ¡°For a given definition of sapient, yeah, but don¡¯t worry about killing them; they¡¯re all pretty much immortal and will respawn later.¡± Decker assured her. ¡°Though be careful with that, they¡¯re smarter than they look. Like a lot smarter than they should be for a second floor monster, which is part of what I¡¯m looking into so if there¡¯s nothing else¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you get back to it.¡± She nodded, before taking a moment to calm herself down from that abyss she almost walked into.


    (Eh, it¡¯s not that big of a deal.) Her inner madness told her. (I mean they won¡¯t be the first monsters we killed.)


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­ that¡¯s different.¡± She argued. ¡°That Bloodhound was trying to kill us, and Decker¡¯s summons were all hard light constructs.¡±


    (See that¡¯s what I mean, are these things any different?)


    ¡°Well they talk for one.¡±


    (Meh, everything talks, it''s just they don¡¯t speak English or Spanish, so we don¡¯t understand them.) Her inner sociopath pointed out.


    (Look this isn¡¯t really something we need to worry about right now.) Her inner logic told them. (What matters right now is getting to the next safe room so we can leave the dungeon. The monsters are immortal similar to the DMs so let¡¯s just knock this out as quickly as possible.)


    ¡°Right, right.¡± She agreed half-heartedly, before slowly pushing the door open once more. ¡°Let¡¯s do this then¡­¡±


    With the lizard people in sight, and still with their backs turned towards her, she crept into the room as quietly as she could before running forward and unleashing a one-two burst of electricity at them. And though this wasn¡¯t enough to shatter them it was enough to scatter them while causing the middle most one to topple into the chest.


    She quickly changed her firing mode and zapped the two that had been thrown to the sides before they could get back up, shattering both of them before delivering a kick to the one in front of her.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    With the other two dead, and forced onto the ground the last lizard began whimpering as it put its arms over its head, causing her to freeze before she could deliver the last fatal blow.


    ¡°Pwease no mores!¡± The lizard cried curling into a ball.


    ¡°Ah, shit¡­¡± (This is just like with Elizabeth¡­) She realized, knowing without a doubt that she was in the wrong here.


    ¡°Hey, hey, I¡¯m sorry I-¡± The lizard grabbed her outstretched hand before pulling her into a headbut and then tackling her onto the ground.


    ¡°Shit- fucking- hell!¡± She cursed, just barely managing to catch the lizard¡¯s hands before it could drive a knife through her neck.


    Struggling not to let her arms give out she eventually managed to shift the angle of the lizard¡¯s stab so that it would impact the ground next to her head instead of her. Thus leaving her free to give it an elbow to the face, knocking it off of her and just far enough that she didn¡¯t actually care if it wasn¡¯t far enough to safely zap.


    One bolt of lightning later and she was all alone without anything else trying to kill her.


    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± She gasped falling on her back. ¡°That was¡­ fuck¡­¡±


    Both of the voices in her head were quiet and she was extremely grateful for that as she slowly got her pounding heart under control. Eventually though, by mustering up what determination she had left, she did manage to pick herself off of the ground. ¡°Right, so¡­ the lizard people are assholes who can¡¯t be trusted¡­ Noted¡­¡±


    Figuring that she didn¡¯t want to leave the room empty handed she made her way to the treasure chest and opened it to find another lizard inside.


    ¡°Shit!¡± She gasped, leaping back as fast as she could before zapping the chest with the last bolt in her clip on one hand and then every bolt in the other clip after it finished reloading. ¡°Is¡­ is it dead?¡±


    Carefully creeping up to the chest she found it empty save for a small pile of gold coins and a large tooth of some kind.


    ¡°Fuck this floor¡­¡± She groaned, leaning against the chest.


    With no small amount of exhaustion she went through the room and gathered whatever bits and bobbles the lizards had dropped as well as the chest¡¯s contents before making her way back to the room where she first encountered the lizards.


    Briefly she eyed the door leading her back to the break room before shaking her head and continuing ever deeper into the dungeon as she reloaded both of her Hand Cannons and checking her COMP. ¡°Damn, down to sixteen power already¡­ thought it¡¯d last a bit longer than that¡­¡±


    (Well we did spam it on that one pretending to be a mimic.) Her inner madness reminded her.


    (Mm, even then at the rate we¡¯re going we¡¯re spending about a point of power for every two lizards we¡­ deal with.) Her inner reason pointed out. (Assuming we keep up at that rate, we¡¯ll likely be in the single digits by the end of this floor. Which likely means this is the only floor we¡¯re going to be able to clear¡­)


    ¡°Fuck, I thought we¡¯d get further than that¡­¡± She frowned.


    (No we never did direct resources into really fixing our power issues since we put so much more effort into building our COMP¡¯s memory capacity.) Her inner logic explained.


    (Hey, that memory will come in handy when we¡¯re upgrading all of our programs and shit.) Her inner passion argued.


    (Perhaps but we didn¡¯t put much effort in making our Hand Cannons efficient enough to last the short term, nor did we build a backup weapon for if we run out of power mid fight.) Her inner reason continued. (Both of which are likely to bite us given how much power we¡¯re burning so close to Halloween.)


    She couldn¡¯t help but grimace at that point. ¡°Right, and given where we¡¯re at now, we might just barely be at full power by then if we left the dungeon now, but that¡¯s only if we quit mid-floor. Which would probably screw Decker over enough that he won¡¯t want to owe us that favor¡­¡±


    (Well, if worst comes to worst we¡¯ve got our power armor back at base and all of our sweet fighting skills from Izzy and Ying.) Her inner Madness pointed out optimistically.


    (...)


    ¡°Izzy can kick our ass.¡± She admitted, stopping in front of the door to the next room. ¡°Meaning if our power armor and hand cannons both run out mid-fight we¡¯re fucked, since I doubt she can go round for round with a dozen of those Bloodhound things.¡±


    (Right¡­ so¡­ melee dakka?)


    ¡°Add it to the list.¡± She sighed, as she pushed the doors open just enough to peek through and then immediately pulling her head back before the lizards could hit her with the stones they were throwing.


    ¡°Okay, so they know I¡¯m here.¡± She nodded, switching one of her hand cannons to Sonic and immediately regretting the extra unit of power the switch caused. ¡°Why again does switching ammo cost power?¡±


    (The bits that let us project different elements get a slight power surge whenever we switch between them, so to avoid having the whole thing blow it¡¯s rigged to drain whatever is left in the chamber to keep from overfilling the battery.) Her inner (Idiot)/(genius) explained. (It¡¯s honestly an easy fix that we could probably knock out in a few hours.)


    ¡°Good to know.¡± She told herself before kicking the door open and immediately firing a sonic blast to stop any of the stones they were throwing before following up with a couple bolts of lighting thus sending the quartet of lizards scattering. Or rather sending the three who weren¡¯t stunned by the bolt that hit them scattering.


    She quickly fired the last bolt from the Hand Cannon set to electric, shattering the lizard as her cannon began the reloading process.


    While this happened two of the kobolds rushed her, and she raised her sound cannon to blast them both, only for one of the kobolds to jump and use the other as a springboard to leap at her.


    Reacting more on reflex than intent she managed to catch the flying lizard with a quick shot of her cannon, sending it flying in the opposite direction. Unfortunately because she¡¯d been aiming high this did nothing to stop the lizard who¡¯d gone low as it stabbed her in the thigh with a knife.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± She cursed before shattering it with a freshly loaded bolt of lightning. ¡°?Pinche largarto!¡±


    Hearing footsteps clattering behind her, she glanced over her shoulder before aiming at the lizard trying to kick her while she was down and zapping it in the face, causing the dungeon monster to explode into a swarm of pixels.


    Frowning her eyes darted to the last lizard as it picked itself off of the ground, before shooting it as quickly as she had the one before it.


    ¡°Shit¡­¡± She cursed looking down at her leg and the knife still sticking out of it. ¡°That can¡¯t be good¡­¡±


    (It isn¡¯t but at the very least it doesn¡¯t seem to be bleeding so, despite being the worst idea in any other scenario in the current one your best bet might be to¡­)


    Nodding in understanding she gripped the knife before taking a couple of quick breaths and yanking it out as quick as she could while looking in the opposite direction.


    She bit her lip as she glanced at where her wound should be before sighing in relief as again despite the sharp pain still emitting from the spot there was no actual blood or cut.


    ¡°I guess we should be thankful they don¡¯t do bleed damage¡­¡± She tried to laugh, while suppressing just how badly that could¡¯ve gone if she hadn¡¯t shot the airborne lizard first.


    (While these injuries may hurt, they aren¡¯t causing any long-term physical damage.) Her inner logic pointed out. (Given how bad any deaths would look on them, in all likelihood injuries in the dungeon cause an increasing amount of pain until eventually knocking you out and then ceasing upon our exit.)


    ¡°If we¡¯re lucky.¡± She frowned, rubbing at the spot where she could still feel a phantom pain if not anywhere near as badly as when the knife was actually in her leg.


    With her mobility restored and only a series of faint aches to show for the damage she¡¯d taken, she took a few moments to collect the loot dropped by the various lizard monsters before making her way through the exit and on to the next room.


    (Have you guys noticed we aren¡¯t getting any mana potions?) Her inner madness asked after a moment.


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve got like five health potions but no blue ones.¡± She nodded, taking one of the red vials out. ¡°I guess it¡¯s because aside from our COMP we don¡¯t really have a resource bar for them to fill. And even if they did I¡¯m not really willing to pour a random power infused liquid onto the core piece of our entire kit.¡±


    (Yes, as is I¡¯m more than a little on the fence about drinking the healing potions regardless of how much they¡¯re supposed to help.) Her inner caution admitted.


    ¡°Which is why I haven¡¯t taken one, despite the surplus probably fixing all of these aches and pains.¡± She agreed, rubbing at the pain in her leg and glad that it wasn¡¯t growing worse with each step on the leg. (Making it easier to ignore.)


    (Meh, if we take many more hits we¡¯re going to have to suck it up and down a vial.) Her inner madness warned her. (Well, that or run away, which¡­ I¡¯d rather not do when Decker says he¡¯ll owe us a favor.)


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± She sighed, considering the gang lieutenant¡¯s favor. ¡°Depending on what we use it for, we might be able to get back up at the hospital, help finding Tommy¡¯s attacker, or who knows what else.¡±


    (Money?) Her inner greed suggested. (Money would be good, and don¡¯t even have to tell him anything about us.)


    (A plus to be sure.) Her inner logic agreed. (But let¡¯s actually see how far we go before we start counting on that favor.)


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve still got¡­ however many rooms are left on this floor.¡± She nodded, before slowly pushing the door open and then even slower looking out from it.


    (Alright, so three lizards¡­) She remembered the other three rooms, and how in each one she¡¯d come across four of the dungeon creatures. (Meaning there¡¯s a fourth one hiding somewhere.) A quick glance assured her that it wasn¡¯t hiding behind the door. (Then where is it?)


    (Perhaps it¡¯s hiding in one of those odd pits at the edge of the room.)


    (Yeah, that makes sense, but which one are they hiding in?)


    Remembering her COMP¡¯s scanner she readied it before firing off a pulse.


    ¡°What was that?¡± One of the lizards asked, looking around as it somehow detected the Scanner.


    Slowly closing the door before they could notice it was open she glanced down at her COMP and saw that one of the room¡¯s corners had a blip that was more than likely one of the lizard things.


    ¡°Alright, now we know where the last one is.¡± She nodded. ¡°Just got to keep an eye on that corner to make sure it doesn¡¯t get the drop on us.¡±


    She moved to put her COMP away, before remembering something and double checking her programs on the little machine as a plan came together in her head. ¡°Yeah, that might cost a bit of power, but it should make sure we get through the next room uninjured.¡±


    Once more she pushed the door open before checking to see how far the lizards were from the door. (Mm, dammit they¡¯re just out of range, so I can¡¯t attack them directly¡­ Going to have to go for a distraction instead.)


    She rapped her knuckles against the door to get the lizards¡¯ attention, causing all three of them to turn towards her just in time to use her headset¡¯s eye function to set off an Energy Burst (Light) just a few feet in front of them.


    All three lizards screamed as the flash of light caught them all in the face blinding them, and she rushed in as quickly as she could as the trio of lizards stumbled into each other before unleashing a series of shots from her Hand Cannon pixelating all of them.


    Down to just the lizard hiding in the pit she raised her cannon towards it and began inching towards the pit so that she could blast the dungeon creature the moment it came into sight.


    ¡°Wait, where¡¯s the lizard?¡± She frowned, finding the pit to be empty as she double checked her mini-map and found that yes the dungeon monster was supposed to be directly¡­(on top of me.)


    Her head shot up just in time to watch the lizard grab onto her and drag her face first into the pit, before something painful stabbed into her back once more.


    ¡°Stupid¡­ fucking¡­¡± She spat sand out of her mouth before taking a swing at the lizard and having it jump out of the way, thankfully removing its knife as it did so.


    Forcing herself to sit up she aimed her hand cannons at the dungeon monster before yelling ¡°?Chingar tu madre!¡± as she proceeded to blast the lizard with a mix of sound and lightning, shattering it into pixels even as it turned the sand in front of her into glass.


    Call her paranoid but after once more getting jumped out of nowhere by one of these lizards she found her eyes darting all over the room in case there was a fifth one hiding somewhere.


    After two full minutes of finding nothing, she let herself lean back against the edge of the sand pit as she once more groaned, ¡°Fuck this floor¡­¡±


    Once her heart finally began to calm down she found herself struggling to get back to her feet, though she did eventually manage, and did a quick scan of herself. (Overall integrity¡­ Oof, eight out of twenty¡­ That¡¯s not very good.)


    (No it isn¡¯t.) Her inner logic agreed. (If we assume the boss is twice as strong as the other monsters on this floor we might not be able to beat it in our current condition.)


    (Unless we drink one of the health potions.) Her inner madness suggested. (I mean we might not have enough power to finish out the third floor, but if we take the potion we could finish out this one at the very least.)


    (Are we sure that¡¯s a good idea?) Her inner caution asked as she pulled out one of said potions. (We still don¡¯t know what¡¯s in those beyond liquid Madness.)


    (Healing Madness? Honestly, as long as it patches us up without consequences does it really matter?)


    (How do we know there are no consequences? There could be and the gamer¡¯s guild could just be covering them up so people keep coming to their dungeon!)


    She eyed the vial thoughtfully as she considered both points.


    (I thought I was supposed to be the inner paranoia?)


    (Then why aren¡¯t you more worried about this?)


    (Because I¡¯m also the inner risk taker and I say this is worth the risk!)


    (But we don¡¯t know the risk!)


    She made her decision.

 Gamer Guild鈥檚 Dungeon (Second Floor): Killer Kobold

    Gamer Guild¡¯s Dungeon (Second Floor): Killer Kobold


    --- Maya ---


    She undid the cork on the potion and downed it as fast as she could.


    (Maya!)


    In the back of her head she heard the voices whispering something about fluids, accelerated application, and a number of other things she wasn¡¯t entirely sure of.


    Normally she would¡¯ve put a little more effort into trying to piece together what the whispers were trying to tell her, but as the taste of strawberries lingered in her mouth she felt a warm tingling sensation spread throughout her body as her various aches and pains slowly faded away.


    (See, what did I tell you? Completely worth it.) Her inner madness gloated.


    (Just because we don¡¯t feel the side effects, doesn¡¯t mean there won¡¯t be any.) Her inner reason growled.


    ¡°Look, it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± She told herself, shutting the argument down. ¡°We were running on fumes, and we have to fight the boss still. I could¡¯ve tried fighting it beaten up, and I probably would¡¯ve lost. Which yeah no big deal it¡¯s just a game, except we¡¯re doing a favor for Decker.¡±


    (And if we lose, he might not have time to finish what he¡¯s working on.) Her inner logic realized with a mental grimace.


    ¡°Right, meaning we might as well try the healing potion that everyone else takes in this place.¡± She sighed, before giving the air around her a look. ¡°Unless you also wanted to fight the Bloodhounds even more beaten up than we already were, because even with our healing herbs I don¡¯t think we could heal enough before we have to deal with those things.¡±


    (Point¡­) Her inner caution reluctantly conceded.


    Shaking her head she started to move around the room collecting her loot while also letting her feel more than a little amazed by how much that one little potion had managed to heal her. (Note to self: Look more into healing tech.)


    (...Noted.)


    Once she¡¯d gathered everything together she made her way to the room exit and started on her way to the floor¡¯s boss.


    Taking a deep breath as she walked she tried to steel herself for the coming fight. ¡°Alright, we may be running low on power but I¡¯ve got this. Ten units is more than enough to stomp a boss, and if worst comes to worst we¡¯ve got more than enough potions to just heal-spam this boss while we duke it out.¡±


    She nodded to herself. ¡°Yeah, the only time these things give me any trouble is when they pull some kind of dirty trick and get the drop on me. I¡¯ve just got to keep my head up, and look at everything with an insane amount of paranoi-ahh!¡±


    She wasn¡¯t quite sure how it happened but she suddenly found herself hanging upside down by her leg.


    ¡°Right, traps.¡± She swallowed as her eyes darted around in a slight panic before spotting two of the lizards making their way over.


    Not bothering to try and free herself with two enemies so close, she instead fought through the blood rushing to her head and fired two shots of lightning from her Hand Cannon. The leftmost lizard leapt out of the way, but the one on the right wasn¡¯t so lucky as not only did it get zapped but it was also paralyzed by the bolt¡¯s electricity, giving her an opening to zap it a second time and causing the dungeon monster to burst into pixels.


    Unaffected by its comrade¡¯s death the other lizard had apparently rushed closer while she shot its counterpart, leaving her unable to react until it had already rammed its knife into her stomach.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± She gasped before grabbing the lizard¡¯s arm and putting her other Hand Cannon to its face, where a pointblank burst of sound shattered its skull into a swarm of lights.


    ¡°Fu-u-uck¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t help but groan as she turned her attention to the knife sticking out of her stomach, before grabbing it and wrenching it out in a single motion. ¡°Again¡­ fuck this floor¡­¡±


    She tried to take a moment to calm her pounding heart but found that to be an effort in futility as the blood continued to rush to her head as she hung from the ceiling.


    ¡°Right¡­ going to have to¡­ cut myself down¡­¡± And as luck would have it, the knife she¡¯d pulled out of her stomach hadn¡¯t disappeared when she¡¯d killed the lizard that stabbed her.


    Her first few attempts at cutting the rope were all failures, not because the knife was too rusted to cut through it, but because she couldn¡¯t fight gravity enough to get the blade to the rope in the first place.


    ¡°Okay¡­ sit ups¡­ a surprisingly important part of being a hero¡­¡± She admitted, as she let herself go limp.


    This was the moment the rope decided to snap on its own, causing her to fall flat on her face.


    She laid there for a moment, and briefly fantasized about going full mad scientist on this bitch and burning it to the ground as her minions swarmed the dungeon slaughtering all of its inhabitants. (What¡¯s more, since it¡¯s owned by a gang I¡¯d still technically be the good guy.)


    (Whatever you say chica.)


    Eventually she managed to pick herself off of the floor and cracked her neck before starting towards the boss room once more. Though this time she moved notably slower, while her eyes also darted to every shadow in sight, half-expecting another lizard to be hiding in each one.


    Fortunately for her, this paranoia proved largely unnecessary as she made her way to the boss room doors and found them already cracked open.


    ¡°So I guess they came from in here rather than just spawning in the hall.¡± She noted, not sure if that made the gamer guild¡¯s GM more or less of a dick for unleashing them on the dungeon.


    (Perhaps we should just be glad they didn¡¯t trap every hallway.)


    ¡°Maybe, but they sure as hell tried to trap every room.¡± She scoffed before shaking her head and trying to peer through the crack in the door.


    The second floor boss room was largely similar to that of the first floor, from the smooth stone floors to the large staircase taking up a good third of the room. The only real difference she could find was a large statue of a figure that looked like a dragon on one side and a vaguely familiar girl on the other.


    (Huh, kind of looks like Ying¡­)


    (Funny that.)


    Her eyes scanned the room as best she could in search of more of the lizard creatures she¡¯d been fighting all floor, but the only one she could find was a robed lizard sitting on the stairs leading up to the statue looking relatively bored.


    She was about to scan the room for the lizard that she just knew was hiding somewhere when-


    ¡°How much longer are you going to make me wait?¡± The robed lizard called. ¡°It¡¯s been long enough that I know you killed my minions, so what in the mistress¡¯s name is taking you so long?!¡±


    She frowned but kept quiet not wanting to let the lizard know she was-


    ¡°Look I know you¡¯re at the door, so can you come in here so I can do my whole intro thing or do I need to start throwing exploding fireballs at the door?¡±


    Not wanting to risk getting torched in a hall with too little space to dodge, she slowly pushed the doors open before checking to each side of it to make sure the hidden lizard wasn¡¯t hiding behind them.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°So I¡¯m guessing everyone else has you right and fearful of our kobold might.¡± The robed lizard smirked down at her, an odd expression on its reptilian face.


    ¡°More cautious of your sneak attacks.¡± She argued, her eyes darting around the room before glancing up at the ceiling.


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯ve gotten real good at stealth.¡± The lizard taunted. ¡°Surprised the GM let you run the floor like this though.¡±


    That drew her attention back to the robed kobold. ¡°You know what¡¯s wrong with this floor?¡± She asked, knowing that that was what Decker was hoping to figure out.


    ¡°Oh, nothing is wrong with it, if anything we¡¯re doing better than we have in years.¡± The lizard smiled. ¡°And we¡¯re just going to keep getting better with each run.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± She glared.


    ¡°It means we¡¯ve been stuck as second floor fodder for a dozen dungeons, and we¡¯re just starting to remember what it was like to be a little higher up on the food chain.¡± The lizard explained before gesturing towards the statue with a bow. ¡°And it¡¯s all thanks to our mistress.¡±


    ¡°So¡­ someone hacked this floor and raised the difficulty level.¡± She translated for herself.


    The lizard cackled before looking at her with eyes full of Madness as it raised a hand crackling with electricity. ¡°The mistress and her minions did so much more than that.¡±


    Knowing what was coming she made to dodge the obvious electrical attack the boss was about to unleash before something landed on her back sending her toppling forward as something stabbed into her shoulder.


    ¡°The fuck?!¡± She cursed as she bucked the lizard (that I fucking knew was hiding somewhere!) off of her.


    Rolling onto her feet she began reaching for the knife in her shoulder before pausing as she caught sight of the lizard who stabbed her.


    Unlike the rest of the lizards on this floor who had a loincloth and maybe a few scraps of leather here and there, this one had a pair of torn up shorts that she¡¯d swear looked like blue jeans and was wearing a brown jacket with the hood up and a leather belt wrapped around its torso. And while it did have a knife like the rest of the lizards -(despite leaving a knife in my shoulder)- this one also had a little stone axe in its other hand.


    ¡°Oh, allow me to introduce you to my lead minion: Kenny, the Huntslizard.¡± The robed lizard told her with a laugh.


    ¡°Ah, shit, this is one of those gimmicky, bullshit two at once boss fights.¡± She groaned, possibly in more pain from that fact than the knife she was pulling out of her shoulder.


    ¡°Uh, no. I¡¯m still the only Boss Kobold.¡± The robed lizard told her flatly. ¡°No matter how many other minions our mistress has, I am and will be the only Boss Kobold.¡±


    ¡°Then what do you call him?!¡± She asked, pointing at the hooded lizard. ¡°He¡¯s clearly a boss monster.¡±


    ¡°Eh, more of a mini-boss.¡± The robed lizard disagreed before looking away with a thoughtful expression. ¡°This was arguably the most difficult and humiliating lesson my mistress taught me, and yet it is also the most valuable one.¡±


    ¡°What lesson?¡± She frowned, feeling like she was losing the plot somewhere.


    ¡°That no matter how strong you are there are some things you can¡¯t do yourself.¡± The Boss Kobold answered, before gesturing at the Huntslizard. ¡°Which is why you get a highly competent piece of eye-candy that can do the dangerous stuff for you so you can sit back and ogle them while they kill stuff in your name.¡±


    (Preach sister!)


    ¡°Please quit objectifying me.¡± The Huntslizard asked with a grimace.


    The robed lizard took a moment to think about it. ¡°You¡¯re the only kobold with a six pack, so¡­ No.¡±


    Kenny gave his counterpart a flat look.


    (Well¡­ she¡¯s got her priorities straight at least.)


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re the one who turned into a training nut after that disrespectful toon curb stomped you.¡± The robed lizard pointed out. ¡°You¡¯ve no one to blame for this but yourself.¡±


    The Huntslizard pinched the bridge of his nose before sighing as he turned his attention back to Maya. ¡°Right, so, are we fighting or what?¡±


    ¡°Uh, I guess?¡± She shrugged, having gotten caught up in the drama between the two lizards.


    (It¡¯s like a real life rom-com!)


    ¡°Fantastic.¡± Kenny smiled kindly as he threw a knife at her.


    ¡°Ah, shit!¡± She just barely managed to throw her out of the way of the knife before finding the Huntslizard in front of her swinging his axe.


    ¡°Oh shit!¡± She stumbled back just barely getting out of the range of his axe, but at the price of losing her balance and causing her to fall flat on her ass, at which point the lizard jumped at her bringing the axe down into her shoulder.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± She screamed, as the Huntslizard pulled the axe out ready to split her skull with it.


    She just barely managed to raise her arm enough to blast the dungeon monster off of her sending him flying half way across the room where it did a (fucking) handspring to flip himself rightside up as he landed with (another fucking knife) at the ready.


    ¡°Oh fuck¡­¡± (We are way out of our league here¡­) She swallowed, before fumbling for one of her potions and downing it as fast as she could after her headset revealed that her health had once more dropped into the single digits.


    With the tingling warmth once more mending her injuries, she was able to calm herself down enough to try and come up with a plan as she eyed the Huntslizard with notably more caution than before.


    (Right, okay, I cannot do anything close to fighting him at close range if he¡¯s that fast.) She freely admitted to herself. (Going to have to keep him at a distance and hope I can zap him.)


    She went ahead and reloaded both of her Hand Cannons, knowing that if she wanted to win she couldn¡¯t be stingy with power, especially since she was going to need to fire as many shots as possible to try and hit what she just knew was going to be an agile target.


    The Huntslizard began moving and she was forced to act far sooner than she wanted as she fired three separate shots of electricity at the dungeon monster, only to watch in panic as he danced around the lightning with ease and grew closer with each bolt avoided.


    ¡°Oh shit¡­¡± Knowing that the Huntslizard was growing too close she fired a burst of sound at him in the hopes of forcing him to put a little distance between them.


    A plan that utterly failed as the dungeon monster slammed his axe into the ground and tanked the wave of sound without being moved.


    Knowing this was the best chance she was going to get to zap him, she raised her electrical Hand Cannon to fire another bolt of lightning only to realize she¡¯d yet to reload it. ¡°Shit!¡±


    She was half-way to firing another wave of sound at the dungeon monster in the hopes of stalling when he pulled something out of his jacket that made her do a double take.


    ¡°Is that a fucking molotov cocktail?!¡± She screeched.


    ¡°Yep.¡± The Huntslizard admitted, looking her in the eye as he bit down on the cloth before pulling it through his teeth as the cloth caught fire.


    The dungeon monster threw the molotov at her and if not for a reflexive shot of sound blasting the bottle into pieces, sending most of the cocktail¡¯s contents away from her save a few stray bits of flame that she was quick to pat out as they touched her hoodie.


    She couldn¡¯t help but sigh in relief as she realized just how close to being burned alive she¡¯d just come to, before shaking her head as she forced herself to remember that none of her injuries thus far had been anything more than the pain and fatigue of their damage rather than any actual damage. (Still¡­ fire might be a little too¡­ painful for me¡­)


    A shiver ran down her spine, as that idea circled through her head for a moment, before she swallowed down her apprehension and turned her attention back to the fight. (Look he¡¯s not a boss monster and I¡¯ve hit him twice, if he¡¯s like the others once more should- where did he go?)


    Her eyes darted around as she realized just how long she¡¯d been standing there and the fact that the Huntslizard was nowhere to be seen.


    She heard the sound of cork popping behind her and spun on her heels to find the Huntslizard downing a familiar red vial.


    ¡°Healing potions too?¡± She asked in horror. ¡°How is that fair?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not.¡± The Huntslizard admitted with a shrug. ¡°Though to be fair.¡± The dungeon monster revealed a few more vials. ¡°These aren¡¯t my potions.¡±


    Her eyes widened in terror as she patted down her jacket and found almost all of her potions to be missing. ¡°Oh, shit¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you really should get a more secure pouch than your jacket pockets.¡± The Huntslizard told her with a sympathetic nod.


    She stumbled back a step as she tried to get away from the (monster) in front of her, before slipping and falling on the ground.


    The (monster) frowned at her. ¡°Hmm, you know if you want, you can just surrender and the dungeon will evacuate you. You don¡¯t have to keep fighting if you¡¯re scared.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­¡± Her eyes darted around, as she tried to think of anything she could do, and just as the thought of actually surrendering filled her head, she remembered an important detail and raised her Hand Cannons as her Aiming Protocols () locked on to the lizard and chimed that they¡¯d both finished reloading.


    ¡°Alright, until the bitter end. I can respect that.¡± The Huntslizard nodded as he readied his axe. ¡°I¡¯ll try to make this quick then.¡±


    She raised her hand as high as she could manage and fired all six bolts of lightning that her Hand Cannons had loaded, and just like all of the previous shots of lightning the Huntslizard avoided them all¡­ or rather he would¡¯ve if she¡¯d been aiming at him.


    Instead all six bolts struck the robed lizard sitting on the stairs, shattering the actual floor boss into a swarm of pixels.

 Gamer Guild鈥檚 Dungeon (2nd Floor): Floor End

    Gamer Guild¡¯s Dungeon (2nd Floor): Floor End


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Huh¡­ Wasn¡¯t expecting that.¡± The dungeon monster admitted, still standing despite the fact that she¡¯d killed the floor boss.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ You¡¯re still here¡­¡± She told him listlessly as she realized her last gambit had failed.


    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± The Huntslizard nodded before giving her a look. ¡°Still¡­ you technically beat the floor, so it¡¯d be a bit of a cuss move if I was to take you out after you won.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ hasn¡¯t this whole floor been nothing but dick moves?¡± She asked him, a little too shell shocked to realize she shouldn¡¯t be arguing with the monster for letting her win.


    ¡°Maybe.¡± The dungeon monster admitted. ¡°But they were all moves allowed by the rules. Your objective on each floor is to defeat the floor boss, while every monster¡¯s objective is to stop you from doing that. So by those rules you won this round of the game.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± At first that confused her, but eventually she remembered that this was ¡®The Gamer Guild¡¯s Dungeon¡¯ at which point she realized, (This is all literally a game to them.)


    It may not have made sense from reality''s point of view, but it made perfect sense from their own. (That¡¯s the entire point of their gang, to turn life into a video game.)


    Part of her felt this revelation gave her a deep understanding of the Gamer Guild and its motives for everything it does. (Another part of her felt that this was ten different kinds of stupid.)


    (It¡­ it doesn¡¯t matter.) She told herself, running a hand down her face before giving the Huntslizard a look. ¡°So you¡¯re not going to attack me?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t be very sporting of me.¡± The lizard pointed out.


    ¡°So what I-I can just rush the boss of each floor without fighting anyone else and you¡¯ll all just¡­ stop once I beat them?¡± She asked, trying to wrap her head around this.


    The Huntslizard made a so-so gesture. ¡°Some of the dungeon monsters might see the actual game as stopping you from beating the dungeon itself, but I¡¯m more concerned with the kobold floor given how few people make it to the end of the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Meaning if I tried to rush the next floor I¡¯d just have a whole mob hunting me down until I finish the dungeon?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Or until you get to a safe room, but they¡¯d have the high ground until you make it to the bottom of the stairs and open the door.¡± The lizard explained. ¡°But the goblins on the third floor are usually curse words I won¡¯t use in front of a minor, so no telling if they¡¯ll respect the truce. Then again they¡¯re under new management for first time runs, so they¡¯re kind of on thin ice.¡±


    ¡°New management?¡± She repeated.


    ¡°Well it¡¯s old management but new.¡± The huntslizard seemed to consider something for a moment before shaking his head. ¡°You non-dreams wouldn¡¯t get it.¡±


    (I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll just take his word for it¡­)


    ¡°So, um, what now?¡± She asked the dungeon monster, having been thrown off when it went from trying to violently murder her to being relatively nice all things considered.


    ¡°Hmm, well, the treasure room is right through there where you can get the floor treasure and after that is the stairs to the safe room. From there¡­¡± The lizard seemed to give her a once over. ¡°I¡¯d suggest tapping out of the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± She wondered, mildly offended. ¡°The only reason this floor was so hard is because Decker gave me the unpatched version.¡±


    ¡°Maybe but you¡¯re flagging pretty hard too.¡± The Huntslizard warned her. ¡°If you keep going you¡¯re liable to drop mid-floor, which would completely kill your score at this point.¡±


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°So what?¡± She scoffed crossing her arms. ¡°I¡¯m mostly just here to try and gain some experience to become a better Mask. And it¡¯s not like you dungeon guys kill anyone.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but¡­¡± The little lizard paused for a moment. ¡°A prolonged loss isn¡¯t going to do you any good if you know you can¡¯t win, it¡¯s just a waste of time and a source of stress. If you keep going you¡¯re going to burn yourself out without any real gains.¡±


    ¡°What do you know?¡± She glared at the dungeon monster as she walked past it and started towards the treasure room.


    ¡°How to fight, play the game, and build traps. Honestly, that¡¯s all I¡¯m programmed to know how to do.¡± The lizard answered, keeping pace with her despite her efforts to put some distance between them. ¡°Heck, I don¡¯t think I even know how to read or write, and my vocabulary was kind of garbage until these last few level ups on my end and even then that might reset on my next instance.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± She wasn¡¯t sure how she was supposed to respond to that, because the implications she got from it were not nice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, it¡¯s a part of being a mortally-challenged creature.¡± The huntslizard continued, sensing her distress. ¡°I die, I reset, I level up. Rinse and repeat for as long as the GM lives.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re not going to leave me alone, can we change topics? You¡¯re giving me a lot of existential dread here.¡± She told the dungeon monster.


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± The lizard shrugged before gesturing towards the trio of chests. ¡°Which one are you going to take?¡±


    Part of her was tempted to take a look at the contents of the armor chest, but in the end she felt it¡¯d be better if she took, ¡°The potions chest.¡±


    ¡°Uh, if you¡¯re tapping out is that really a good idea?¡± The huntslizard asked, ¡°I mean technically you can take the other chests out of the dungeon with you, you know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I need a heal.¡± She reminded the dungeon monster as she opened the potions chest and found a couple of healing potions inside of it.


    ¡°But you still have these¡­¡±


    Curious about what he meant she glanced over her shoulder and saw the lizard offering her a pair of healing potions. More specifically the potions he¡¯d stolen from her a few minutes prior.


    ¡°But you¡­ you¡¯re just giving these back?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I?¡± The huntslizard asked sounding genuinely confused.


    ¡°Because¡­ you stole them?¡± She answered slowly.


    ¡°And you beat me so all stolen goods are returned.¡± The dungeon monster nodded. ¡°Everyone knows that¡¯s what happens when you kill a thief monster.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±


    (He¡¯s not necessarily wrong.) Her inner logic admitted after a moment.


    Sighing to herself she glanced back at the chest and couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°Well that was a waste of a floor chest¡­¡±


    The huntslizard frowned at her disappointment before snapping his fingers and running out of the room. ¡°Hold on a second!¡±


    Shrugging, she went ahead and downed one of the health potions to bring herself to top physical condition once more. (Shame I can¡¯t do the same with my COMP¡¯s energy supply.)


    ¡°Alright, I got everything.¡± The huntslizard told her as he ran back into the room with a small brown pack.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± She asked as she accepted the pack.


    ¡°Well you sort of forgot to collect your loot from this floor so I went ahead and gathered everything up for you, mostly because the boss dropped this.¡± The dungeon monster explained before showing off a little ring.


    Taking the ring, she gave it a once over before giving the lizard a look. ¡°And this is?¡±


    ¡°The boss drop, it¡¯s an elemental ring that¡¯ll let you shoot an element.¡± The huntslizard answered, rubbing at the back of his neck. ¡°Um, it¡¯s probably not worth too much since you can already do that, but it¡¯s the best consolation prize I can get you.¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh, thanks¡­¡± She nodded, understanding that the dungeon monster -(Kenny)- was trying to be nice.


    ¡°No problem.¡± Kenny nodded back cheerfully.


    Not knowing what to say she gestured towards the floor exit and said, ¡°Um, so I guess the safe room is next.¡±


    ¡°Let me get that for you.¡± The huntslizard told her, rushing forward before opening the door with a half bow. ¡°Ladies first.¡±


    ¡°Uh, thanks.¡± She smiled awkwardly as she passed the dungeon monster before pausing as she heard the clack of steps behind her. ¡°Um, can I help you?¡±


    Kenny shook his head. ¡°Not really. I¡¯m mostly following you because you seem like the stubborn type and I want to be there in case I have to talk you out of going to the third floor.¡±


    ¡°Why is that such a big deal to you?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Honestly?¡± The lizard asked before explaining that, ¡°Each floor has this background score based on difficulty and how many players we stop, and as you are now you¡¯d be an easy score for the goblins and well¡­ screw those guys.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re trying to keep me from going to the next floor, so that the ¡®goblins¡¯ -who you don¡¯t like- won''t get any points from beating me?¡± She summarized as best she could.


    ¡°Pretty much.¡± The dungeon monster nodded.


    (I can respect that.)


    ¡°I figure if we can¡¯t beat you with the violent physical option, I can maybe win this with the peaceful social option.¡± The huntslizard elaborated.


    (And I can respect that.)


    Eventually she just sighed. ¡°Fine, if you¡¯re so bent on this, I won¡¯t continue to the third floor.¡±


    ¡°Wonderful.¡± Kenny told her as he continued to follow.

 Gamer Guild鈥檚 Dungeon (Final Shop And Exit)

    Gamer Guild¡¯s Dungeon (Final Shop And Exit)


    --- Maya ---


    Stepping into the dungeon break room, she found the second one to be almost identical to the first from the Merchant to the ladder and even the opposite stairwell.


    ¡°Huh, you got an elevator or something to beat me here?¡± She asked the merchant, figuring that if the little lizard following her could talk then this guy probably could too. (Beyond pre-recorded lines anyway.)


    ¡°Nah, the dungeon has this looping warp thing.¡± Said lizard answered instead of the merchant. ¡°Technically, there¡¯s only one breakroom and you¡¯re only coming back between missions. He just changes the menu based on your previous floor.¡±


    The merchant seemed to glare at the huntslizard for a moment before eventually sighing. ¡°Since we¡¯re apparently breaking character¡­¡±


    ¡°Actually this is my default personality past level three now.¡± The dungeon monster informed the dungeon merchant earning another sigh.


    ¡°What are ya¡¯ buyin¡¯?¡± The merchant asked in a resigned tone.


    A little screen popped up in the air in front of her.


    (Ooh, store menu!)


    She paused from buying anything and instead glanced down at the lizard that was apparently being more helpful than his fellows liked. ¡°Is it actually worth going through the store since I¡¯m leaving?¡±


    The huntslizard seemed to consider that for a moment. ¡°The actual gold is worth more when you trade the excess in for points at the exit store, but the floor treasures -for us those were the kobold teeth- are worth more if you spend them on a floor trinket. Though those will cost points to take out of the dungeon with you.¡±


    ¡°Any idea how many points?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s like a hundred points per week.¡± The lizard (kobold) told her.


    ¡°And how many points do I have right now.¡±


    The huntslizard shrugged before giving the merchant a look.


    ¡°Just because you¡¯re bending the rules and giving her a walkthrough doesn¡¯t mean I have to help you.¡± The merchant scoffed.


    The little kobold rolled his eyes. ¡°Right, so the D-bag isn¡¯t going to help but given the standard rules¡­ you¡¯ve got at least seventy-five points for clearing our floor, plus another thirty or so just from coins and loot. You¡¯ve probably got more than that, but that¡¯ll be your minimum amount.¡±


    ¡°So I can take one dungeon item out with me for a week?¡± She noted with a considering frown.


    ¡°Unless it¡¯s a potion, those are a bit cheaper since you can¡¯t really hurt someone with healing.¡± The huntslizard added.


    ¡°Okay, and the trinkets for this floor are a necklace that boosts stealth, a talisman that boosts stealth and stealth damage, and a totem that-¡± She froze as she read the item description before her eyes darted to her treasure count. ¡°Motherfucker!¡±


    (We could¡¯ve summoned a dragon if we had one more fucking tooth!)


    She paused before slowly turning towards the kobold next to her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like the way you¡¯re looking at me.¡± The huntslizard admitted.


    (Don¡¯t. We couldn¡¯t beat him in a fight one on one, so I doubt we could fight him and the merchant.) Her inner reason told her.


    (I don¡¯t know, given the merchant guy¡¯s attitude he might just let us steal the kobold¡¯s tooth¡­)


    Eventually she shook her head. (No, that wouldn¡¯t be heroic.)


    (Damn, alignment obligations.) Her inner madness cursed. (I told you we should¡¯ve gone for chaotic neutral.)


    Spending three of her teeth she bought the talisman, figuring that even if she didn¡¯t trust the power ups she should at the very least try to investigate them and make sure they really didn¡¯t have a Slaver effect going for them.


    Confirming her purchase, the screen blinked out of existence before the Merchant¡¯s hand shot forward with a blinding speed. Quickly retracting said hand, the Merchant stuffed it into his coat before pulling out what looked like a dream catcher with teeth hanging off of it instead of feathers. ¡°One kobold¡¯s talisman stranger.¡±


    ¡°Uh, thanks¡­¡± She nodded, accepting the trinket while also wondering (what was that about?)


    (He most likely took his payment off of us.)


    She blinked once before checking her pockets and finding that not only were all of the kobold teeth gone but that there was also an extra handful of coins than before.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to have maxed out pickpocketing or something with those hands.¡± She told the merchant with just a touch of awe.


    ¡°Min-maxed all of my thief skills.¡± The merchant admitted. ¡°Makes it easier to do my job in the long run.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t hurt that your level doesn¡¯t reset with the dungeon.¡± The huntslizard noted dryly.


    ¡°I¡¯m a Boss.¡± The merchant pointed out with a half-chuckle.


    ¡°Like a hidden boss?¡± She felt the need to ask.


    ¡°Like one of the merchant bosses that one-shots you if you try to steal their merchandise.¡± The merchant boss nodded.


    ¡°Uh, got it.¡± She nodded back with just a touch of nervousness. ¡°Um, uh, I think that¡¯ll be everything.¡±


    ¡°Then feel free to come again, stranger.¡± The merchant dismissed her as he took a step back.


    Shaking her head she turned towards the ladder, ¡°I just take this to get back?¡±


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Yep, it¡¯ll take you to a door connected to the exit room where you can cash your points in for prizes and such.¡± The huntslizard nodded.


    ¡°Right, well, uh, thanks for everything I guess.¡± She told the little kobold as she grabbed a rung of the ladder.


    ¡°And thank you for not giving those goblin scumbags an easy win.¡± The kobold responded as she started up the ladder.


    ¡°Uh, yeah, no problem.¡± She half-grinned half-grimaced before starting up the ladder.


    After a moment she found herself in a dark tunnel climbing upwards, higher and higher.


    (You know this would be a really shitty time for us to fall.)


    She stopped climbing before sighing at that intrusive thought.


    ¡°You¡¯re tapping out already, gamer girl?¡± Decker¡¯s voice asked from the air around her. ¡°Was kind of hoping you¡¯d be willing to check something out on the next floor.¡±


    She shook her head before continuing up the ladder. ¡°Yeah, I don¡¯t have enough battery to finish another floor and that last one was a lot tougher than I was expecting even with your warning.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough, I wasn¡¯t expecting that Huntslizard thing either.¡± Decker admitted, making her pause once more.


    ¡°Was that something you found in the dungeon files or whatever you¡¯re going through?¡± She asked cautiously as she began to suspect something.


    ¡°Yeah, something like that. Uh, hold on¡­ It looks like you¡¯re about to hit the dungeon exit, I¡¯ll find you outside once you wrap up with the gift shop.¡± Decker told her, before explaining that. ¡°If the Merchant sees me he¡¯ll know something is up and tell the GM.¡±


    ¡°Fine, it¡¯s whatever.¡± She sighed, as she noticed a growing light above her before slowly climbing out into a small chamber with a single door.


    Moving to open the door she just realized (did he say gift shop?)


    In front of her was a large open tent full of dungeon souvenirs ranging from t-shirts and hoodies to mugs and little action figures of the various dungeon monsters. And sitting behind a counter on the other side of the tent was a bored looking merchant.


    (I have lost so much respect for these people.)


    She ran a hand down her face before sighing and making her way to the counter.


    ¡°So, uh, how does this prize thing work?¡± She asked the dungeon merchant.


    ¡°Well since the lizard spoiled it, I at the very least don¡¯t have to give you the asinine exit speech.¡± The Merchant told her.


    (Boo, I like asinine!) Her inner idiot yelled. (Especially when it¡¯s annoying the people who have to put up with it.)


    The merchant clicked a button and a nearby machine lit up with the number two hundred and twenty six. ¡°You¡¯ve got that many points, kid, so make use of them.¡±


    A little screen appeared in front of her similar to the merchant¡¯s previous screen, if with a number of options that were different. Notably the one letting her make any of her existing gear permanent for a short time in exchange for her points.


    Clicking the option she was reminded that not only did she have the kobold talisman she¡¯d just picked up but also the lightning ring the Huntslizard had given her. (Hmm, I guess if we want to test everything properly then we should probably get more than one point of reference, and a week each should be enough to study both of them.)


    With that settled she clicked the purchase button and watched her counter fall to the double digits as the merchant reached under the counter before dropping a box on the counter.


    ¡°Uh, what¡¯s this?¡± She blinked.


    ¡°Your prizes.¡± The merchant answered bluntly.


    Curious, she opened the box to find both the talisman and the ring from before. ¡°Wait, didn¡¯t I already have these on me?¡± She frowned patting down her pockets to find all of her loot missing.


    She blinked before giving the merchant a look. ¡°Min-maxed thief.¡±


    ¡°That I am.¡± The merchant nodded, before putting five dollars and twenty cents on the counter.


    ¡°Um, why¡¯re you giving me money?¡± She asked, after taking the money. (I¡¯m not stupid.)


    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s this whole legal thing, and most people end up blowing it on the gift shop merch which costs more than what most people earn from the dungeon.¡± The merchant explained with a shrug.


    ¡°Huh¡­ should you be telling me that?¡± (Because that¡¯s not the kind of thing scammers usually admit to.)


    ¡°You¡¯re apparently a friend of Decker so it¡¯s-¡± The merchant just shrugged.


    ¡°Oh, uh, how did you¡­?¡±


    ¡°I heard him while stealing your stuff in the tunnel.¡± The merchant admitted.


    ¡°Ah.¡± She should probably give Decker a heads up on that. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll be going then.¡±


    ¡°Mm-hmm.¡± The merchant nodded.


    Taking her winnings from the dungeon she made her way out of the tent and found herself on the other side of the park from where she¡¯d begun.


    ¡°Yo, gamer girl, over here!¡± Decker called from his position hiding behind a nearby tree.


    (He is not nearly as inconspicuous as he thinks.)


    (Maybe he min-ed on the stealth skills.)


    ¡°Alright, so did you find what you were after or not?¡± She asked, cutting straight to business.


    ¡°Sort of, I figured out there were at least two weird power interactions, but I can¡¯t tell how bad they were since bits of the corruption run a lot deeper than I could get to.¡± Decker sighed, rubbing at the back of his neck. ¡°At the very least this means there¡¯s another Madness user in the city beyond the GM but I don¡¯t know what kind of Madness user they are or how much damage they did.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t really help you with any of that.¡± She admitted, given how she was still figuring out this whole Deviant thing beyond her M.A.D. stuff.


    ¡°I¡¯m not really expecting you to.¡± Decker shrugged, before pulling out a pair of cards. ¡°That said, since you probably tossed my card here¡¯s another one.¡±


    ¡°There are two cards he¡­ you have a Deviant¡¯s Masquerade card?¡± She blinked upon seeing the non-business card in her hand.


    ¡°Yep, pretty much all of the guild lieutenants do at this point.¡± Decker nodded with a grin. ¡°Figured you¡¯d appreciate having a signed copy, being a clear gamer and all.¡±


    ¡°I only play M.A.D.s.¡± She told him bluntly as she read his card over. ¡°Also your card kind of sucks.¡±


    ¡°Wha- no it doesn¡¯t!¡± Decker frowned. ¡°I¡¯m a puppeteer, my whole thing is summoning minions and buffing them up!¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh, and according to this you have a glass-jaw and will die the moment you hit the front line.¡± She pointed out. ¡°What¡¯s more you¡¯ve got a faction passive, meaning your card is half as useful in any deck without another Gamer Guild Mask.¡±


    ¡°Ah-ah, but I¡¯m twice as effective on a team made of nothing but my guildmates.¡± Decker argued. ¡°And given how their own passives would buff me like I¡¯m buffing them, that makes it even more valuable.¡±


    ¡°Maybe but the fact that your buff only triggers when you play an Arcane spell makes it luck at best to use, especially since you¡¯re apparently a Corrupted Arcane, half of your deck is going to be Madness cards instead of Magic cards.¡± She figured. ¡°Probably more given how I¡¯m guessing the rest of your guildmates all use the Madness resource too.¡±


    Decker gave her a look before smiling with his teeth. ¡°I am going to absolutely crush any M.A.D. deck you play against me and my guild deck.¡±


    ¡°As if.¡± She dismissed without worry.


    Decker gave her a laugh before shaking his head. ¡°You¡¯re something else Gamer Girl, still I owe you one, so just give me a call when you want to call it in.¡±


    ¡°Right, I might need that in the next couple of weeks.¡± She admitted, looking at his actual business card before remembering something. ¡°Oh, and I just remembered the Merchant mentioned something about overhearing you talking to me.¡±


    ¡°Damn.¡± Decker grimaced before sighing. ¡°Well not much I can do there without making myself actually look guilty.¡±


    After a moment Decker seemed to nod to himself before looking at her. ¡°I need to go talk to the other lieutenants about what I saw here so I¡¯m going to have to be off.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± She shrugged, figuring it was getting late for her too.


    ¡°Well, in that case I¡¯ll be off.¡± Decker told her as he turned to leave before throwing a wave over his shoulder. ¡°And if you don¡¯t call me for it, good luck with whatever you¡¯re doing for the Halloween Haunt!¡±


    She blinked before frowning. ¡°What¡¯s the Halloween Haunt?¡±

 Turn 72: Halloween Plans, Heavy Metal, and Studying Madness

    Turn 72: Halloween Plans, Heavy Metal, and Studying Madness


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to dress up for Halloween mija?¡± Her mam¨¢ asked as they walked down the costume aisle of the store. ¡°I mean, Tommy and Vi are dressing up.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but they¡¯re going to a halloween party, while I¡¯m probably just going to stay home and pass out candy.¡± She pointed out, figuring that in all likelihood she might be a bit too out of it after dealing with Bloodhounds to actually go out and do anything. (Which kind of sucks¡­)


    (Sadly this is the price of responsibility.)


    (Boo! Responsibility sucks!) Her inner child whined. (I say screw the trick or treaters, let''s just eat all of the candy ourselves since we can¡¯t be a trick or treater with Izzy or Seamus!)


    ¡°Hmm, well you don¡¯t have to stay home.¡± Her mam¨¢ reminded her. ¡°I mean you could come with us to the Halloween Party at the police station, I hear they¡¯re doing a haunted house this year!¡±


    ¡°Eh, public haunted houses tend to be kind of lame.¡± She frowned before shaking her head. ¡°Why are you going to the police station instead of just trick or treating anyway?¡±


    ¡°Apparently there¡¯s been a rise in crime this year so they¡¯re being a little stricter with the children¡¯s curfew to try and keep them safe.¡± Her mam¨¢ explained looking at a witch¡¯s costume on the wall. ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a pain, but given how much damage people do on a normal year I can¡¯t blame them for wanting to keep the ni?os safe. Either way, since we can¡¯t really go trick or treating we figure taking everyone to a Halloween party with other families is a safer bet.¡±


    (Hear that? No trick or treaters means we can eat all the candy guilt free!)


    (If our parents bought candy, they may not have if they weren¡¯t expecting any children.)


    (What of course they bought candy for the children, their children at least. We can just steal everyone¡¯s candy while they¡¯re at the party.)


    ¡°So are you sure you don¡¯t want to come with us?¡± Her mam¨¢ asked once more. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if you remember but we did something similar the last time things got bad like this a few years back.¡±


    She did remember that, though she didn¡¯t recall it being all that fun for her given how she wasn¡¯t really a ¡®party¡¯ kind of person.


    ¡°I¡¯ll think about it, but I probably won¡¯t go.¡± She admitted after a moment before pausing as she caught sight of a mad scientist costume featuring a white lab coat, goggles, and rubber gloves.


    (Is this derogatory to us?)


    (Possibly.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to Seamus and Mam¨¢.


    ---


    Having come to realize that she was distinctly lacking in options should her COMP ever run out of power after being forced to tap out of the Dungeon due to power concerns, she decided the best way to remedy this was to create a melee weapon of some kind.


    Of course being an M.A.D. she couldn¡¯t settle for any weapon as mundane as a knife or a baseball bat but instead needed to make something with a suitable amount of tech tacked onto it.


    And given how her Hand Cannons mostly filled the slot of speedy attacks, she figured that the best way to cover her bases was to make something designed more for¡­ damage than anything else.


    Which is how she came to create the monstrosity of scrap metal that laid before her.


    ¡°Come on, it''s not that bad.¡± She frowned, having taken some effort to make the weapon look decent.


    (It looks like you stuck a piece of rebar into a pile of scrap and somehow turned it into a sledgehammer.) Her inner critic argued.


    (You know, I wasn¡¯t really paying attention but I do think that is what she did.)


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not!¡± She told herself, before picking up the weapon that while needing a bit of strength to wield was nowhere near as heavy as it looked. ¡°In the middle of this I¡¯ve got a small gravity generator like my grav-pak to let me lug this thing around. All I¡¯ve got to do is give the thing a good swing and then kill the power to the generator and it¡¯ll be like I took an actual sledgehammer to someone¡¯s face. Whatsmore with a couple tweaks I can probably figure out how to make my grav-engine invert making this thing hit even harder than that!¡±


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    (While all of that may be true, even if ingenious it doesn¡¯t change the fact that this thing is something of an eyesore. Honestly, I thought it would come out more aesthetically pleasing given how much time you¡¯ve been putting into the arts.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    (I don¡¯t know it may look like an eyesore but it does have this sort of Mad Max, Junker tech look.) Her inner passion noted. (It¡¯s not the prettiest thing but we could make a theme out of this if we wanted.)


    ¡°Uh, no¡­ I may be making things out of scrap but I¡¯d rather not look like I made this stuff by dumpster diving.¡± She told herself dryly.


    (Isn¡¯t that how you got like half the stuff to make this?)


    ¡°...¡± She picked up the metal monstrosity and threw it over her shoulder as she walked out of her lab. ¡°I need to go hit something.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Heavy Weight (Mk 1)


    --This special weapon requires a long action to use but hits for (Strength * 2) Damage. Additionally this weapon applies stacks of [Stun] on Crits reducing enemy AP on their next turn.


    ---


    ¡°I can¡¯t do it. I can¡¯t do it. I just can¡¯t do it.¡± She whimpered, staring off into the distance.


    (Come on, it''s not that bad.) Her inner madness consoled her.


    (Not that bad? Not that bad?!) Her inner reason shrieked. (None of this makes any sense!)


    (Uh, you sure?) Her inner madness asked. (This all makes sense to me.)


    ¡°How does this make sense?!¡± She cried. ¡°As far as I can tell these things are practically¡­ the M word!¡±


    (Madness?)


    ¡°No! The M-A-G-I-C word!¡±


    (Please?)


    ¡°Gah!¡± She screamed in frustration.


    (Yeah, okay. I¡¯m done fucking with you.) Her inner Madness assured her. (Anyway like I said, most of this is pretty straightforward in how it works, as long as you let go of the hard science stuff.)


    (All science is hard science!)


    (Sociology, Economics, Psychology, Linguistics, Political Science?)


    (... I hate you more than you can possibly understand.)


    (I¡¯m emotion. I know the exact limit of Maya¡¯s rage before coming full circle.)


    (Fine. Fine. Explain how these, these¡­ abominations work.)


    (Well clearly Madness is really fond of the Observer effect, meaning just observing it causes it to change, generating the illusion that it is uncontrolled or in a constant state of variable. The easiest way to solve this is to simply recognize the fact that Madness will remain a variable in any equation you try to factor it into.) Her own madness explained in a surprisingly mature tone.


    (Now in this case both of the trinkets from the dungeon are generating a small Madness field which while we can¡¯t observe with technology we can pick up on through the whispers¡¯ excitement. Accepting this field as our variable we can then conclude the ring converts this field with an unknown amount of energy into electricity by responding to an innate -if usually passive- field that seems to be inherent in all sapient -and possibly sentient- life, which we can test via having the DMs and LCMs use it.)


    Mildly stunned she handed the ring to the LCMs and while 1A seemed to be stumped by it, 1B managed to get it to spark a bit eliciting an excited clap from the minion as M2 seemed to copy him.


    (Good, now continuing with the existence of this field the ¡®trap enhancement¡¯ is likely a residual field applied to other objects that stimulates other people¡¯s fields in such a way that they end up subconsciously triggering the trap via some sort of artificial blind spot or perception filter.) Her inner Madness continued. (The stealth enhancement is likely this same field more passively applied to whoever holds the talisman.)


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± She understood most of that, and honestly if she hadn¡¯t gotten so caught up in trying to decipher ¡®Madness¡¯ as an energy she might¡¯ve been able to figure it out on her own, but still¡­ ¡°Leaving this as just a ¡®variable field¡¯ feels wrong, it¡¯s like admitting it¡¯s really¡­ the M word and I don¡¯t understand it.¡±


    (Because you don¡¯t, you can¡¯t, and you probably shouldn¡¯t.) Her inner insanity told her as she picked up the talisman.


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± She frowned.


    (You know how in Lovecraftian horror learning about the great ones drives you inSane?)


    ¡°Uh, yeah?¡± She nodded, a little weirded out by the question.


    (Then you already know, EnLiGHteNmEnT cAn DrIVe yOU maD MaYa.)


    A chill ran down her spine as she felt something run its fingers across her mind, whatsmore it felt as if that something was coming from the-


    She threw the talisman to the other side of the room and proceeded to back as far away from it as she could.


    ¡°What the fuck was that?!¡± She half-screamed.


    (What was what?)


    ¡°That, that ¡®enlightenment can drive you mad¡¯ shit!¡±


    (I¡¯m sorry but the what?) Her inner reason asked with some concern. ()


    ¡°Oh, please tell me you two are just fucking with me right now¡­¡±


    (Uh, no¡­ I said I was done with that so I could remind you two that I¡¯m the real brains of our trio.) Her inner (Madness) reminded her. (Oh, speaking of we were just about to get to the cool ideas I¡¯d gotten from the dungeon trinkets.)


    She couldn¡¯t help but whimper at the mention of the clearly cursed things.


    (Ah, ah. Curses are part of the M word and Maya doesn¡¯t like the M word.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Kobold Lightning Ring Studied


    --Inspiration Increased by (D6=4) Turns, new expiration date is Turn 80.


    --New Project Unlocked: Shock Rings


    -Kobold Talisman Studied


    --Inspiration Increased by (D6=4) Turns, new expiration date is Turn 80.


    --New Projects Unlocked: Basic Infiltrator Set


    (A/N: I rolled that twice because I didn¡¯t like them ending on the same turn, and got double 4s both times.)

 Turn 73: Flowers, Bombs, and Explosives

    Turn 73: Flowers, Bombs, and Explosives


    --- Maya ---


    Given her intentions of building up her arsenal enough to deal with the threat of the Bloodhounds at the hospital, a slight problem had come to her attention. Namely the fact that she was starting to run low on most of her supply of materials. (Besides Electronics which the DM¡¯s have got down pat.)


    (Still leaves us a bit short on Plastics, Organics, and most importantly Scrap metal.)


    Which is why she decided to give a tour at the M.A.D. club in the hopes of scraping together the money necessary to solve this problem for one or two more inventions.


    Currently she was helping a blonde college student named Tessa show off the numerous flowers she¡¯d been growing in her greenhouse room.


    ¡°Now the interesting thing about Hydrangeas, is the fact that these flowers can come out in different colors based on the acidity of the soil they¡¯ve been grown in. With blue coming from increased acidity, and pink from less.¡± Tessa explained, showing off a blue and pink flower before making her way to a trio of flowers colored differently despite clearly being the same breed. ¡°By taking the genetic keys that enable this change, I¡¯ve been able to splice this characteristic into these other plants so that each one will bloom into a different color based on similar factors. Such as these marigolds which will turn either orange or green as the Hydrangeas DNA is triggered in adding a given hue and turning them into marioranges or marigreens.¡±


    (You know, thinking about it, I¡¯m surprised we haven¡¯t looked into splicing our own plant experiments.) She realized as she idly swatted a kid''s hand to keep them from touching the flowers.


    (What plant experiments? We¡¯ve got fodder and healing herbs, and that¡¯s about it.)


    (True, we admittedly haven¡¯t spent too much time looking into organics beyond our LCMs.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    (Well, it¡¯s something to consider working on once we get all of this¡­ mess sorted at the hospital.)


    Scene Consequences


    -For giving tours at the M.A.D. club, you made ((Random M.A.D. skill D6=4=Biology) Rank * D6 + Total M.A.D. Level = (1*D6 = 6) + (6+6+5+3=20) = 26) Dollars.*


    -Thanks to Crit gained 1 Bonus XP to Biology.


    --Currently: Lv. 3 (3/8)


    *A/N: I just broke that down to remind people how this works since we haven¡¯t done it in a while. Oh, and remember at the M.A.D. club, Crits grant Bonus XP rather than Bonus Cash.


    ---


    ¡°Okay, and I think¡­ that should do it.¡± She told herself as she closed the small device she¡¯d built. ¡°Now we¡¯ve just got to test it out.¡±


    Picking up the device, she walked out of her lab and made her way out of the hospital altogether before setting her device on the grass outside and putting some distance between her and it.


    With a safe distance established, she pulled out her COMP before setting it to pick up the extremely specific radio frequency the device was projecting. ¡°Alright, now let¡¯s just see if this works.¡±


    She entered a quick code and had her COMP prepared to send out a response along the same frequency. With her eyes glued to the device she pressed send and-


    A powerful blast erupted from the bomb visibly rippling through the air as the sonic bang echoed through the air.


    ¡°Fuck that¡¯s loud.¡± She cursed, feeling a slight ringing in her ears.


    (Well that¡¯s what happens when we use sound instead of fire like I wanted.) Her inner madness whined.


    (I believe any explosive we make would be loud.) Her inner reason argued.


    ¡°Either way it doesn¡¯t matter.¡± She reminded herself as she made her way to the small crater surrounding the remnants of the device. ¡°Damn, I was hoping since we were using sound it could survive the detonation.¡±


    (We¡¯ll just have to work on their durability if we want that.)


    ¡°Yeah, but at the very least they should get the job done for now.¡± She told herself, picking up the remains of her explosive. ¡°Just going to have to make a few more of these to do what I need.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -New Skill: Trap Making Lv. 1 (0/4)


    --Influences Trap production and chances of enemies walking into a trap.


    -Traps Tutorial


    --Traps are useful but limited use equipment that Maya occasionally has to refill to continue using based on skill Rank, but as an M.A.D. she gains a bonus to building Traps based on her M.A.D. skills allowing her to restock more.


    --Note: Trap Charges are interchangeable for all discovered trap types, unless specified. (I.E. Electronic Traps vs. Biological Traps)


    -Gained (Trapmaking Rank + Electronics Rank = 1 + 2 = 3) Trap Charges


    -New Trap: Concussive Explosives (Mk. 1)


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    --Place or throw these explosives to deal (D6) Damage to enemies in a (1M) Radius, enemies caught in the blast will be knocked radius distance back. (Requires COMP to trigger.)


    -Inspiration (Kobold Talisman) Auto-Crit Traps, 1 Scrap and 1 Electronic refunded.


    ---


    Once she finished making as many explosives as she could in a single afternoon, she started making her way to the various entrances of the alchemilla wing of the hospital and then placing as many explosives around them as she could. That way should the Bloodhounds be able to escape while she was hunting them she¡¯d be able to set the explosives off and hopefully stop them before they could get too far.


    (Good idea, but it would probably work better if we¡¯d built a proximity detonator into them.) Her inner madness pointed out. (These will only work if we set them off during the Creep¡¯s escape.)


    ¡°Maybe but with time constraints to make the number we need I could either add a frequency to turn them all on and off, or I could build the proximity trigger that would go off no matter what. And I felt like keeping them from blowing me up was a priority for this first batch.¡± She reminded herself as she set another bomb up. ¡°I can add the proximity feature to the next batch, I just wanted some kind of defensive measure here.¡±


    (Yes, safety first and all that.) Her inner reason agreed with her.


    ¡°Well, as safe as you can get when sharing a building with a bunch of bloodthirsty demons, anyway.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Hospital Alchemilla wing is now covered in Concussive Explosives, current version requires COMP to trigger.


    -Gained 1XP to Trap Making


    --Currently: Lv. 1 (1/4)


    ---


    She spent the entire day hedging back and forth on whether or not she should go through with this, but given how she only had a few days left and the fact that if she screwed up kids would be on the line, she eventually caved and called the number she didn¡¯t want to.


    ¡°Hello?¡± A voice answered on the third ring.


    ¡°Decker.¡± She greeted, forcing down her frustration.


    ¡°Uh, who is this?¡± The DJ asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ the M.A.D. you keep running into.¡± She answered, realizing she¡¯d never given him an actual alias beyond ¡®Gamer Girl¡¯ which she refused to go by on principle.


    ¡°Oh, gamer girl!¡± Decker laughed. ¡°What can I do for you? You calling that favor in already?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I uh, I found this Bleed.¡± She tried to explain. ¡°I¡¯m trying to handle it on my own but¡­ I¡¯m pretty sure the Creeps in it are getting ready to move, and with Halloween a few days away¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re thinking they might get loose while everyone is running around.¡± Decker finished, before pausing for a moment. ¡°Alright, well good news on that if you haven¡¯t heard the city¡¯s Halloween curfew is going to be a little more¡­ strict this year, given certain things going on in the upper end of the Deviant community.¡±


    ¡°What kind of things?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°The kind of things that if you don¡¯t know about, then you probably shouldn¡¯t get involved in.¡± Decker told her, his tone more serious than she was used to from him.


    She wanted to argue that point, but at the same time she was smart enough to realize that if she was coming to him for help dealing with this problem then she didn¡¯t exactly have any ground to argue on.


    ¡°Okay, so if you¡¯re coming to me for this, first thing I have to ask is if there¡¯s a reason you¡¯re not taking this to Sanctuary or the Hero¡¯s Guild?¡± Decker asked her.


    ¡°Yes.¡± She admitted.


    ¡°You willing to tell me what that reason is?¡± Decker continued.


    She thought about the Deadwoman she was living with and decided, ¡°I¡¯d uh, rather not.¡±


    ¡°Alright¡­¡± Decker sighed. ¡°Where exactly is this Bleed?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± She asked just a little cautiously.


    ¡°So I can send a few of our more combative players to shut it down.¡± Decker answered. ¡°They¡¯re not exactly my bunch but even with everything going on I¡¯m sure a couple of them will be willing to do a side quest for me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh, I¡¯d rather not get anyone else involved if I can¡­¡± She grimaced.


    She heard Decker let another sigh out on his end. ¡°Look if you want me to help I¡¯m going to need to know where and why on that one.¡±


    (You think I should tell him?) She asked herself.


    (I¡¯m not the one who voted to call him in.) Her inner madness reminded her. (That said, the situation is already fucked so¡­ adding more fuel to the fire can¡¯t hurt.)


    (With our time constraints, if we want to avoid the Creeps getting loose in the city then we probably need to tell him.) Her inner logic told her.


    (Right¡­) She sighed to herself. ¡°It¡¯s because I found the Bleed in the basement of my base.¡±


    ¡°And you don¡¯t want anyone to know where your base is.¡± Decker understood before pausing. ¡°I¡¯m guessing as an M.A.D. you¡¯ve entrenched yourself a little too much to just pick up and move?¡±


    ¡°That wouldn¡¯t solve the Creep problem.¡± She felt the need to point out.


    ¡°But it would free it up for me to send my guys in.¡± Decker pointed out to her before going silent again. ¡°Alright, look I can¡¯t exactly send you much in the way of help if you don¡¯t tell me where you are, but I also get that you might not want to tell me so I¡¯ll give you a bit to think on it, and if you decide you don¡¯t want to get me involved then we won¡¯t consider this little call the favor I owe you.¡±


    ¡°That basically leaves me where I was before I called you.¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Maybe, but if you decide that you want me to help you then I and only I will go down there to help you.¡± Decker told her. ¡°The only condition is I can¡¯t help you on Halloween, because that¡¯s when the big stuff in town is going down and I¡¯m going to be too busy.¡±


    ¡°So I call you and you come down to help me with the Bleed or I don¡¯t and you still owe me a favor.¡± She summarized.


    ¡°Yep, though on the Bleed thing it¡¯s less help you and more clear it out for you.¡± Decker warned her.


    ¡°You think you can clear a Bleed out by yourself?¡± She scoffed, remembering how she¡¯d beaten him.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t be the first time.¡± Decker admitted with an audible grin. ¡°Don¡¯t forget when we ¡®played¡¯ I was taking it easy on you, the only way I can¡¯t handle this Bleed is if it¡¯s bad enough that Sanctuary should be able to pick it up on all of their equipment.¡±


    She considered it for a moment before sighing. ¡°Alright, if I decide to tell you where I¡¯m based I¡¯ll go ahead and call you in a couple days.¡±


    ¡°Cool, then just send me the party invite and I¡¯ll carry you through the level.¡± Decker told her. ¡°See you later gamer girl.¡±


    ¡°Asshole.¡± She said once he hung up. ¡°Carry me through the level¡­ Gah.¡±


    (Well, at the very least we¡¯ve established a failsafe if we can¡¯t handle the Bloodhounds on our own.) Her inner reason reminded her.


    ¡°Maybe but¡­ this wasn¡¯t really what I was hoping for.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Can now call Decker to deal with the Bleed, doing so will trigger the event though.


    --Note: This option is only available until Halloween, if we wait for the event to auto-trigger then Decker will not help us.

 Turn 74: Better Dakka, Living Machines, and Hard Talks

    Turn 74: Better Dakka, Living Machines, and Hard Talks


    --- Maya ---


    Knowing that the greatest flaw in the newest addition to her arsenal was the fact that she needed to detonate them manually, she decided that the most important upgrade on her agenda was making sure they could recognize when something entered their range. And while creating a motion detector was a reasonably simple feat that she knocked out in maybe half an hour, it was the fact that she had to create additional detectors to attach to all of her other bombs that really made this particular upgrade a problem.


    ¡°Yeah, we kind of jumped the gun setting the explosives up before making sure they were ready.¡± She sighed, making her dozenth or so motion detector.


    (Well, we were in a hurry to have some kind of contingency to deal with the Creeps.) Her inner reason consoled her. (Better to have a minimal defense than none at all.)


    (Yeah, besides we built more dakka.) Her inner madness added. (You can never have enough dakka dakka.)


    ¡°True.¡± She admitted. ¡°But I think this counts as a case of not having enough dakka when deploying said dakka.¡±


    (That just means we need even more dakka.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Concussive Explosives upgraded to Mk 1.1


    --Explosives will now auto-trigger when something enters their max range.


    -Gained 1XP to Electronics


    --Currently: Electronics Lv. 6 (5/14)


    ---


    ¡°Now this metal here is gallium, which has a number of interesting properties.¡± A male M.A.D. named Victor told the handful of children visiting. ¡°For instance as a liquid metal, if you were to pick it up in your hand like this, it would actually melt in your hand. Though be sure to wear gloves if you don¡¯t want to stain your hands with it.¡±


    Victor showed the kids his hands as the metal slowly melted before dumping it in a container with hot water where it spread out a bit.


    ¡°Now if you add sulfuric acid to this it¡¯ll cause the gallium to increase in surface tension.¡± Her fellow M.A.D. continued, pouring a second clear chemical into the container and causing the squished gallium to slowly turn into a more well rounded blob. ¡°Now if you keep watching you''ll see bubbles beginning to form on the edge of the gallium where its ionization process is leaving behind little bubbles of hydrogen.¡±


    ¡°If you introduce iron to the equation you can lower the gallium sulfate back to a more normal state, reducing its surface tension so that you can do this.¡± Victor pulled out a small pin like piece of metal before poking the metal blob and dragging a line of metal away from it. Of course this effect is only temporary, so if you move the iron too far¡­¡±


    The line of metal snapped leaving a small spike pointing off of both the iron pen and the gallium blob, until after a moment the blob¡¯s spike seemed to zip back into the blob. Smiling at the awed kids, her fellow M.A.D. stuck the pen back into the blob and messed it about until the blob was a contorted shape, until after another moment it seemed to snap back into its more spherical form.


    ¡°Now this next bit is the really cool bit.¡± Victor assured the kids, as he poured a vial of a yellow liquid into the container. ¡°By adding aluminum dichromate to the sulfuric acid and gallium, we will cause a dual series of reactions where the liquid metal will oscillate between expanding and contracting in a way that almost looks like the metal has its own heartbeat.¡±


    As she alongside the crowd of kids watched the metal beat away to its own rhythm a little voice in her head couldn¡¯t help but wonder, (out of curiosity¡­ how hard do you think it would be for us to make a living liquid robot?)


    (Significantly harder than we are capable of at the moment.) Her inner reason admitted.


    (Also aren¡¯t you the one always going on about us skynetting the world?) She reminded herself. (Building the liquid guy from terminator 2 isn¡¯t exactly stopping that.)


    (As if I actually care about stopping us from skynetting the world.) Her inner madness chuckled. (I just wanted to make sure ¡®robot revolution¡¯ was the world domination plan we wanted to go with.)


    Scene Consequences


    -For helping out at the M.A.D. club, you earned ((Metal Working: 2D6=11) + (Total M.A.D. Level = 20) = 31) Dollars.


    -Thanks to Crit gained 1XP to Metal Working.


    --Currently: Lv. 5 (5/12)


    ---


    ¡°Alright, how does that feel?¡± She asked DM-1 as she finished adjusting the little drone¡¯s limbs.


    DM-1 shuffled around a bit as he got used to the new joints in his limb allowing him to more easily shuffle about before saying, ¡°Move quicker.¡±


    ¡°Yep, that was one of the points.¡± She nodded, before dropping a bunch of cubes in front of the little drone. ¡°Now try picking as many of these dice up as you can, and remember you want to do it one dice at a time.¡±


    DM-1 gave her a nod before shoving his face towards the dice, at which point his mandible-like appendages tried to scoop them up, only to fumble half of them.


    The little drone made a growl of frustration as he glared at the even littler cubes.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± She told him. ¡°Take your time and get used to them, you¡¯ve got more joints there two so you don¡¯t have to grab them all at once.¡±


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    DM-1 stared at her for a moment, before once more shoving his face into the pile of dice. Only this time instead of trying to grab the dice all at once he used his new lower mandibles as a sort of plate while using the upper ones to slowly curl the dice onto it.


    ¡°Much better.¡± She praised the little drone once he had managed to gather a decent amount. ¡°Now you just keep practicing at it while I get DM-2 set up with her upgrades alright?¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± DM-1 told her before getting back to his exercises, as he trained his programming to properly use these new appendages.


    Turning to her other drone she began hooking DM-2 up to her computer equipment. ¡°Now then I¡¯m just going to put you in sleep mode and when you wake up you¡¯re going to have a bunch of shiny new upgrades.¡±


    ¡°Okay, mama.¡± DM-2 nodded as she settled in.


    (Ah~ She¡¯s going to make such an adorable little world conqueror!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Drone Minions upgraded to Mk. 1.2


    --When using Tools and/or Weapons all drone minions gain +1 to Tool Efficiency and/or Weapon Accuracy.


    -Gained 1XP to Electronics and Metal Working


    --Currently: Electronics Lv. 6 (6/14) and Metal Working Lv. 5 (6/12)


    ---


    ¡°You know I am legitimately surprised you called me again.¡± Decker admitted as she escorted him through the halls of the hospital.


    ¡°Well, as close as it is to Halloween I don¡¯t want to risk them getting out.¡± She explained. ¡°Especially since you said everyone is caught up with something else.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± Decker nodded. ¡°Takes a big person to admit they can¡¯t handle a problem on their own.¡±


    ¡°Right so¡­ this is the place.¡± She told him, gesturing to the bomb covered entrance to Creep infested section of the hospital.


    ¡°The Alchemilla wing?¡± Decker read off a nearby sign. ¡°Oh, that is definitely the kind of place you cover in bombs.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Eh, Madness has a sense of humor¡­¡± Decker answered, before quietly adding, ¡°A really messed up one when it wants.¡±


    (I wonder what that means?)


    ¡°So out of curiosity, I need to worry about any fog or evil nurses in there?¡± Decker asked.


    ¡°No, but there¡¯s this pack of these Bloodhound things.¡± She warned him. ¡°They¡¯re like these wolfman things that can cause a fear effect throwing you off completely.¡±


    ¡°Ah, Fear, that can be a nasty little debuff depending on who uses it.¡± Decker agreed, before contemplating something as he stared at the door. ¡°Hey, how many entrances to this wing are there?¡±


    ¡°I think there¡¯s like six?¡± She shrugged. ¡°A bunch of the halls and stairs are falling apart, but that¡¯s all I could find.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Decker snapped his fingers and a swarm of pixels erupted nearby before merging to form one of the Bouncer Bears she¡¯d seen at his rave. ¡°Mind taking me to the other entrances so I can drop a few more of these guys off?¡±


    ¡°Uh, no, sure. Uh, this way.¡± She told him, continuing down a hall.


    ---


    ¡°So, um, how many of those things can you make?¡± She had to ask once he¡¯d left yet another Bear at the final entrance.


    ¡°More than enough.¡± Decker assured her in a way that did little to reassure her given how he was still a gang member and her a hero. ¡°And even more than that when I¡¯ve got my music board with me.¡±


    ¡°Good to know.¡± (So glad I broke that thing when I had the chance.)


    ¡°Yeah, sis was not happy I had to replace that.¡± The gang lieutenant admitted. ¡°Still I was due for an upgrade anyway.¡±


    ¡°Glad there¡¯s no hard feelings¡­¡±


    ¡°Mm-hmm, so the bombs?¡± Decker asked.


    ¡°Uh, right¡­ just give me a second.¡± She told him, before using her COMP to temporarily shut the bombs down. ¡°That should do it.¡±


    ¡°Fantastic, now come on.¡± Decker told her walking through the doors. ¡°Any idea where these Creeps are?¡±


    ¡°Um, the last time I saw them they started spawning while I was near an archives room.¡± She answered, gesturing down a hall. ¡°It¡¯s about five minutes that way.¡±


    ¡°Cool, and how do you want to handle this?¡± Decker asked, clapping his hands together.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Well there are three big ways we could handle this,¡± Decker explained. ¡°The first is that I go in there and wipe them all out single handedly which, yes, I¡¯m ninety-five percent sure I can do. Or alternatively I could be here as a safety net, while you go in and take care of things yourself, only stepping in when you absolutely need it. Lastly I could help you fight them, but more in a support role in case you get whammied by that fear effect thing.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ and if I¡¯m using a favor to get your help, why would I fight these guys myself?¡± She asked him slowly.


    ¡°Because you need XP.¡± Decker answered bluntly. ¡°I mean I get you¡¯re new to this whole Mask deal, but the fact that you¡¯re asking me for help with a small Bleed tells me one of two things. Either you¡¯re weak and need to level up, or you¡¯re extremely unconfident and need a win to get you some confidence.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not¡­ I told you, I could handle this if it weren¡¯t for the time restriction.¡± She argued. ¡°I mean, with a bit of time I could be ready for anything.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s the logic fallacy of M.A.D. heroes.¡± Decker sighed before giving her a long look.


    ¡°All right, real talk because I think you need it.¡± Decker told her. ¡°It¡¯s a common issue with M.A.D. Masks where you all think with enough time you can beat anything so half of you turn into lab hermits who never actually do anything outside of your labs. Which leads to this spiral where you think you need even more equipment before you can go out, because there is always one more thing to invent.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve done stuff outside of my lab.¡± She told him petulantly, knowing that she did spend most of her time in her lab.


    ¡°Really? Because after you proved ballsy enough to challenge me on my home turf I decided to try and keep an ear out for you.¡± Decker admitted before raising his fingers. ¡°Three months and I¡¯ve heard one report that could¡¯ve been you, both from the cops and other contacts.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve only been at this for a few months!¡± She tried to argue. ¡°You can¡¯t expect me to be ready to be a hero that quickly, it takes time to sort this kind of stuff out.¡±


    ¡°True, but there¡¯s also a drive factor, a determination to be a Mask.¡± Decker pointed out. ¡°You are showing you don¡¯t really have that drive.¡±


    ¡°Fuck you.¡± She spat at him.


    Decker gave her an unimpressed look. ¡°I personally know at least a dozen teens who were thrown into the Mask life, each made a splash pretty quickly once they were dragged into it. Even the few that have popped up in the last couple of months have made a decent showing of robbing gangs, rescuing kidnapped kids, and even fighting an A-Rank Demon for one insane bastard.¡±


    The gang lieutenant sighed and his face softened a bit. ¡°I¡¯ll admit, a fair number of those new Masks get out of the game once they get a real taste of it, which is why I played that whole little game when we met. So you could win a bit, lose a bit, and get a taste of it all.¡±


    She was silent at all of that.


    ¡°Now, I¡¯m not trying to be mean here, but given what I¡¯m seeing with you and what all I saw in the dungeon, I feel like you need someone to explain to you that the Mask game is not for the weak willed.¡± Decker continued. ¡°Now I know you¡¯ve got some bite, but it¡¯s up to you whether you¡¯ve got enough bite to stay in the Mask game or not.¡±


    The older Mask gestured down the hall. ¡°So like I said, you can handle this by yourself with me as a safety net, I can give you some help and show you how it¡¯s done, or if you don¡¯t think you¡¯ve got enough bite I can take care of it myself.¡±


    Decker gave her a hard look. ¡°So what¡¯s it going to be gamer girl?¡±

 Quest: Hell Hospital (Part 1)

    Quest: Hell Hospital (Part 1)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll handle it myself!¡± She told him before striding down the hall towards the administration archive as she felt her blood beginning to boil from what Decker had told her.


    On the one hand she knew exactly what he was talking about, given how much time she¡¯d spent in her lab compared to being out and about, but on the other¡­ (Who does that asshole think he is looking down on me?!)


    After a few minutes of stomping through the halls with Decker silently following her while wearing an irritating grin on his face, she realized that despite how pissed she was she needed at least some semblance of a plan if she was going to (show the DJ just how wrong he is before rubbing his face in it.)


    (Though the question is how best to do that?) She frowned, knowing that she didn¡¯t have much longer to figure it out. (Okay, right¡­ I¡¯m up against an enemy I vaguely know so my best bet is to probably handle this quietly and then if things go wrong handle it loudly. After all, even if things go wrong there¡¯s nothing stopping me from just blasting these Creeps with my Hand Cannons.)


    With the vague beginnings of a plan, she considered what parts of her kit would constitute ¡®quiet¡¯, before realizing she hadn¡¯t actually built anything that could be considered ¡®stealthy¡¯, save maybe her trap mines. (Which actually aren¡¯t going to be quiet once they go off¡­)


    ¡°I¡¯ll just have to make it work.¡± She sighed.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Decker asked a few paces behind.


    ¡°I said, to keep quiet we¡¯re getting close to where the spawn and I don¡¯t want them to know we¡¯re here.¡± She answered with a frown.


    Decker made a face. ¡°Going in quiet? Blegh. Louder and prouder is always better for this kind of thing.¡±


    ¡°Not if you don¡¯t want to be ripped apart.¡± She argued, before considering it. ¡°Or if you want I can feed you to the hounds to buy myself some time.¡±


    ¡°Tempting but you said you wanted to handle this yourself so I¡¯m going to have to be a little more hands off than that.¡± Decker shrugged as he raised both of his hands.


    ¡°Then don¡¯t be a backseat gamer.¡± She told him, tossing one of her mines down.


    ¡°Uh, are explosives a good idea in a confined space?¡± Decker questioned with a slightly nervous tone. ¡°We don¡¯t want to literally blow the roof off of this place.¡±


    ¡°Their yield isn¡¯t that high.¡± She told him with a roll of her eyes. ¡°Honestly, you need two or three going off at the same time to destroy the more stable walls.¡±


    ¡°If you say so, though bombs aren¡¯t exactly a mainstay of stealth builds.¡± The Gamer Guild lieutenant noted as she threw another mine down.


    ¡°Traps and mines are a mainstay of stealth builds in a modern setting.¡± She pointed out as she threw a mine into an otherwise empty room. ¡°They¡¯re just not good for Ghost runs.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough, they just feel like half-assing that route though.¡± Decker told her. ¡°Sniper, silenced gun, or a bow and arrow seem more of a rogue''s route.¡±


    ¡°And I¡¯m an M.A.D. not a rogue.¡± She reminded him before spotting the door to the archives. ¡°Alright, we¡¯re at the place I last saw the Bloodhounds.¡±


    ¡°Plenty of Rogue M.A.D.s in this world.¡± Decker said, apparently needing to get the last word in as they entered the archives.


    ¡°Whatever.¡± She sighed before looking around for a moment. ¡°Why aren¡¯t any of these Creeps spawning yet? They were all over me the last time I was here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that. That¡¯s probably me.¡± The DJ shamelessly admitted.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°You know how in some games if you¡¯re a high enough level the low-level guys will run away from you. It¡¯s basically that.¡± Decker explained. ¡°Has to do with the fact that I am absolutely covered in Madness and Magic, anything that senses that stuff can spot me from a mile away.¡±


    She took a deep breath before slowly letting it out. ¡°You know, that¡¯s the kind of thing that would¡¯ve been good to know before you followed me here.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, I¡¯ve got Creep bait on me.¡± The (idiot) assured her as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a vial of something red with streaks of black moving through it.


    ¡°Creep bait?¡± She repeated skeptically as she eyed the vial.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s not its actual function, but everyone who has dealt with the stuff enough knows it''s basically Creep bait.¡± He told her as he uncapped the vial before dumping it on the ground.


    ¡°And what exactly is this stuff?¡± She asked, more curious than anything now.


    ¡°Uh, if you don¡¯t know, then you don¡¯t want to know.¡± Decker answered before shuddering, and quietly adding ¡°That was one secret I really wish my sister hadn¡¯t looked into¡­¡±


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    (I just want to know more now!)


    Not willing to admit that, she instead told him, ¡°That tells me next to nothing about that stuff.¡±


    ¡°Just uh, just avoid any ¡®Deviant Drugs¡¯ unless you know exactly what is in them and how they¡¯ll interact with your powers.¡± Decker grimaced, looking more than a little uncomfortable. ¡°For instance if I¡¯d taken this junk I would¡¯ve lost my mag-¡±


    A nearby explosion cut off whatever Decker was going to let slip, before being followed by a couple more even closer.


    ¡°Welp, looks like your Creeps have come out of hiding.¡± Decker noted before leaning out of the doorway. ¡°Oh, but they aren¡¯t dead yet. Might want to get on that.¡±


    ¡°Get away from there before they see you!¡± She hissed, grabbing the (idiot) and dragging him away from the door.


    ¡°So you¡¯re not going to take advantage of the fact that you staggered five of them with your mines?¡± Decker checked with her. ¡°Seems like a waste to me, but you do you, gamer girl.¡±


    She glared at Decker for a moment before groaning as she ran into the hall and spotted the downed Bloodhounds picking themselves off of the visibly charred ground.


    Raising her hand cannons into the air she fired off half a dozen bolts of electricity at the Creeps. Hoping that her aiming software would be enough to make up for the fact that she wasn¡¯t really aiming on her end and just firing as many shots as she could.


    Most of which did connect with one Bloodhound or another, as demonstrated by the three who hit the ground before beginning to slowly burn away to cinder and ash.


    Not that she was able to stick around and watch since the other two managed to shake off everything she¡¯d done to them before turning towards her with matching growls, as the world around her seemed to shake and her heart began to pound in her ears.


    ¡°Shit, shit, shit¡­¡± She cursed, struggling to breathe as the Creeps began crawling towards her, their claws leaving massive gouges in-


    ¡°Bonk.¡±


    She blinked as the shaking stopped and it became much easier to breathe, despite her still pounding heart.


    Slowly she turned towards Decker who had a fist raised just above her head.


    ¡°Fun fact, a lot of the weaker mental effects can literally be knocked out of you.¡± The DJ smiled, before glancing at the Bloodhounds. ¡°Oh! Might want to dodge right.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± She asked, still a little dazed.


    She received her answer via a mass of muscle tackling her to the ground, and sending them skidding several feet as one of the snarling Bloodhounds pinned her to the ground.


    ¡°Oh, shit!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry you can take ¡®em!¡± Decker called after her.


    She switched one of her hand cannons to sound and burst before grabbing the Creep¡¯s shoulder and blasting it. An action that sent it hurling into the hallway wall with violent thud, though not without its claws cutting her bicep just beneath her shoulder armor.


    ¡°Fuck, I should¡¯ve brought the power armor.¡± She groaned as she picked herself up, hating that she¡¯d gotten so worked up that she hadn¡¯t thought to go back to her lab for it.


    ¡°Mm, couldn¡¯t have hurt.¡± Decker agreed, having apparently heard her. (Because of course he did.) ¡°Also that one isn¡¯t dead yet.¡±


    Her eyes shot to the side just in time to meet a pair of hellfire red eyes as the Bloodhound began to growl and she promptly shot it in the face with a mix of electricity and sound. Pasting the creep against the wall with a disgusting squelch as the scent of burning meat filled the air.


    ¡°Now it¡¯s dead.¡± Decker nodded, giving her a thumbs up.


    (No idea if that fear response was me or it.) She admitted to herself as her heart continued to pound in her chest.


    ¡°Oh, on your right.¡± Decker told her, causing her eyes to dart away from him and to where a trio of Bloodhounds were rounding a corner. ¡°Ooh, now that is a grenade loving target if I¡¯ve ever seen one.¡±


    Agreeing with him, she reached into her jacket and pulled out one of her explosives before hurling it down the hall at the Creeps.


    The trio all looked down at the explosive curiously, before the device fulfilled its god(/me) given purpose and exploded, throwing all three creeps around with a shockwave that left her ears ringing.


    Not wanting to give them a chance to get back up, she forced herself onto her feet before making her way over as she reloaded her Hand Cannons.


    Once the Creeps were in range she unloaded everything onto them, bombarding them in a barrage of sound and electricity as she blasted them apart.


    As her Hand Cannons auto-loaded themselves she couldn¡¯t help but pant as she watched the trio of Creeps begin to break down into cinder and ash before drifting into the air, a sense of accomplishment filling her as she realized she¡¯d taken out almost a dozen monsters by herself.


    ¡°Good job, gamer girl.¡± Decker clapped from behind her. ¡°Told you, you could do it.¡±


    ¡°And the moment is ruined¡­¡± She sighed, before turning back towards the (pain in the ass.)


    ¡°Though you do have two left.¡± Decker told her, immediately sending her on high alert as she looked around the wrecked hospital hall in search of the Creeps she¡¯d missed. ¡°Over here.¡±


    Cautiously, she walked towards Decker before he gestured towards the archive room where she found a Creep with its face being pressed into the dirt by one of Decker¡¯s bears, who was gently bobbing its head to some unheard beat.


    She turned on Decker with a glare. ¡°I told you I didn¡¯t need your help.¡±


    ¡°Eh, this is less me helping and more me reffing the fight.¡± Decker disagreed, raising a finger into the air.


    ¡°The fuck is that supposed to mean?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Right, so certain breeds of Creep. Namely the ones that dissolve when you kill them, tend to spawn a bigger Boss Creep when you kill all of them.¡± Decker reminded her.


    ¡°I know that.¡± She told him. ¡°That doesn¡¯t explain why you held this one back.¡±


    Decker rolled his eyes. ¡°I held this one back, because once you kill it the boss Creep will probably spawn and you¡¯ll have to fight it. And if you hold one back then you can decide when the boss spawns rather than letting it ambush you on the tail end of another fight. Which as an M.A.D. powered by prep time is usually a good idea.¡±


    She made herself take a calming breath before bitterly admitting that, ¡°Yeah, that does sound like a good idea.¡±


    ¡°Glad you agree, because we¡¯ve got like five minutes before this idea quits working.¡± Decker informed her.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°It has to do with how many Creeps you kill leading up to the boss. After you kill about half of them, the boss is coming no matter what but how fast it comes is based on how many Creeps are left.¡± Decker explained, before shaking one of her hands in a so-so gesture. ¡°I don¡¯t know what the exact math is since it varies between Creep species but we should have enough time for you to throw down a few more mines or something.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any more mines!¡± She told him.


    ¡°Oh, you didn¡¯t bring enough dakka to a fight?¡± Decker frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t you know, you can never have enough Dakka.¡±


    ¡°Gah!¡±

 Hell Hospital (Part 2-Boss Fight: The Bloodwolf)

    Hell Hospital (Part 2-Boss Fight: The Bloodwolf)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Fine. Fine. You know what? Whatever.¡± She told Decker. ¡°Just kill the thing and get out of my way.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s what you want.¡± Decker shrugged before giving his Beat Bear a nod and snapping his fingers, causing the two to seemingly disappear in a swirl of pixels as the bear tore out the Bloodhound¡¯s throat.


    Her eyes drifted around the room as she slowly backed towards the exit, watching and waiting until-


    A large red tear opened in the air, sending out a spray of what looked like blood as a clawed hand twice the size of any of the Bloodhounds tore its way into reality before a second claw gripped the edge of the tear and began prying it open in a continuous spray of the pseudo-blood.


    As the tear opened wider and wider she was eventually able to make out the snarling face of an overgrown Bloodhound, its face covered in scars and one of its eyes seemingly dead.


    Seeing an opportunity as the Creep clawed its way to freedom she raised her Hand Cannon and fired several bolts of lightning at the stationary target. Hoping to deal some damage before it managed to really get loose into this world.


    Rather than simply standing there and taking it, the beast lunged forward, leaping through the gap it had tore open and letting it snap shut with a sickening squelch as the Creep landed on the ground, swinging its massive claw to tear her into shreds.


    Stumbling back, she saw sparks as the beast''s claws grazed across her chest plate leaving two grooves in it as she backed out of the archive exit. Escaping only because the Bloodwolf¡¯s massive size meant it had to struggle through the door frame.


    A struggle that gave her plenty of time to heft her Heavy Weight off of her back and swung it at the Creep¡¯s head, being sure to kill the Grav-Generator¡¯s power so that it would hit with its full momentum.


    When her Heavy Weight hit the Bloodwolf¡¯s head she saw several teeth fly out of its maw in a spray of blood that also knocked the beast¡¯s head against the doorframe.


    Unfortunately, her general lack of experience with swinging the scrap hammer combined with its sudden weight, also -¡°Oh, shit!¡±- sent the Heavy Weight flying from her hands and crashing into the wall a fair bit past the Creep Boss.


    A growling snarl tore from the Bloodwolf¡¯s throat as it turned its hateful hellfire eyes onto her, and she couldn¡¯t tell whether the fear she was feeling was from the Creep¡¯s fear effect or if this was simply her natural reaction to facing an angry predator more than twice her size.


    Barely thinking about it, she raised her Hand Cannon up to the Creep¡¯s face and proceeded to blast it with as much sound as she could, once more knocking its head against the doorframe. Only this time instead of simply taking it with a snarl the Bloodwolf tore its arm through the frame making the doorway large enough for its massive form to pass through.


    ¡°Oh, fuck!¡± She cursed scrabbling to back away from the Boss Creep before it could get its claws on her.


    The Bloodwolf began to growl and the world around her began to spin as her heart stopped in her chest, causing her to stumble and fall on her ass as she suddenly found it impossible to breathe.


    All around her the shadows began to creep and crawl, whispering in her ear dark and terrible secrets as words seemed to flicker on the edge of her vision. And she knew, just knew that something she could not perceive was watching her with over seven hundred and sixty five eyes from beyond the seas of madness.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Oof, you are having a bad reaction to that one.¡± A voice commented as something swatted the back of her head.


    ¡°W-wha?¡± She asked, her heart still pounding and fear still clouding her mind, even if nowhere near (whatever the fuck) that was.


    ¡°Psionics and M.A.D.s can really screw with each other.¡± Decker explained, standing in a nearby doorway as he examined his nails. ¡°Also I¡¯d dodge, if I were you.¡±


    ¡°?Qu¨¦?¡± She blinked, before something grabbed her by the leg and proceeded to slam her into the wall, knocking the wind out of her and bruising half of her body. A half that was quickly followed by the rest as she was thrown into the other wall.


    ¡°Fu~uck!¡± She coughed, hitting the ground with an impact that did nothing to help her pain.


    Rolling onto her back she had just watched the Bloodwolf rise onto its back legs with both of its arms raised, ready to bring them down and crush her in the ensuing impact.


    She also watched an opening appear.


    Reacting as quickly as she could, she swapped her hand Hand Cannon to Light and raised it towards the Creeps face where she unleashed a blast of light, interupting its attack and causing it to stagger back as it shook its head.


    Forcing herself onto her feet she rushed forward before ducking between the massive Bloodwolf¡¯s legs and making a break for her Heavy Weight as the creep thrashed about behind her.


    Grabbing her Heavy Weight she tried to pry it out of the ground, only for the scrap hammers¡¯s immense weight to keep it locked in place. ¡°Shit, where¡¯s the-¡± She accidentally hit the weapon¡¯s grav-generator switch as she pulled on it causing the hammer to fly into the ceiling before crashing to the ground behind her.


    A sound that the Bloodwolf did not miss as its head snapped to the side before the massive Creep began to turn around to face her.


    ¡°Fuck, that¡¯s not good¡­¡± She groaned, before picking up her Heavy Weight and facing the Boss Creep.


    The Bloodwolf began to growl and- This time she shot it in the face before it could fear lock her.


    ¡°Going to have to try something else, pinche cabr¨®n.¡± She told the pain in her ass as she kept one hand aimed at it in case it tried the same thing again.


    The Bloodwolf narrowed its eyes at her as it got onto all four with a (thankfully) mundane growl.


    ¡°Right¡­ Guess we¡¯re doing this then¡­¡± She nodded, feeling a dull ache across her entire body as she gripped her Heavy Weight with both hands and eyed the Boss Creep down.


    They both stood like this for several moments, neither willing to make the first move and open themselves up to the other¡¯s counter as they stared each other down.


    She wasn¡¯t entirely sure which of them broke first, but a twitch of muscle had them both rushing forward towards the other.


    The Bloodwolf kicked off the ground to tackle her to the ground, but she dropped to the ground and slid as the massive Creep flew overhead before raising a massive claw to rip her to shreds as it skidded on its heel and turned its head straight into her Heavy Weight.


    Only unlike the last time she swung the cumbersome weapon, she didn¡¯t lose her grip on it leaving her free to follow up with a second blow to its head and then a third, a fourth, and as blood continued to fly from its maw with each strike she slowly lost count as she became solely focused on beating the Bloodhound to death.


    ¡°Alright, gamer girl, that''s enough.¡±


    She jumped as a hand touched her shoulder and spun on her heel to face the new threat, only calming down when she realized she was looking at Decker watching her with an odd if soft look.


    ¡°You¡¯re safe now, it¡¯s dead.¡± Decker told her, as she panted from the exertion of what she¡¯d just done.


    She blinked, before repeating. ¡°It¡¯s dead?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s over. You killed all of the Creeps and dealt with the Bleed.¡± Decker nodded, before giving her a smile. ¡°Your base is safe, and you saved the day.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s good.¡± She said, not really sure of what else she could say, given how any hype she had was swiftly suppressed by her aching¡­ everything.


    ¡°Yep, you survived your first fight with something actively trying to kill you.¡± Decker agreed with a pat of her shoulder. ¡°Congratulations, you now know what it''s like to be a Mask.¡±

 Hell Hospital (Epilogue)

    Hell Hospital (Epilogue)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Why are you still here?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but ask Decker as he moved around the lab he¡¯d somehow found without any help from her end.


    (My guess, he had the bears scouting the place after we left.)


    (Remind me to add cameras to our security system.)


    (I¡¯ll put it down for right after we move the explosives somewhere more useful than the hall.) Her inner reason agreed.


    ¡°Just want to make sure you¡¯re still holding up after your first real fight.¡± Decker answered observing her bio-pod curiously and making her glad her minions had the forethought to hide from a stranger. ¡°Some people have a delayed reaction and it¡¯d be pretty trash of me to leave you to that after pressuring you into that fight.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, but I¡¯m pretty sure I worked out my issues when I caved that boss creep¡¯s skull in.¡± She dryly pointed out.


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± Decker admitted with a shrug. ¡°But now that you¡¯ve been ¡®bloodied¡¯ as it were, what exactly are you planning on doing?¡±


    ¡°Not that it¡¯s any concern of yours but what do you mean?¡± She frowned.


    Decker turned to her as he leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. ¡°Well for starters, do you still plan on being a Mask after seeing what an actual fight is like?¡±


    She considered it for a minute -the fear, the adrenaline, the emptiness when it was done, and the rush when she realized she¡¯d won- before shaking her head. ¡°It wasn¡¯t any worse than what I went through in your guild¡¯s dungeon. So none of this has really changed my mind.¡±


    ¡°Figured that might¡¯ve been the case after what I saw in the dungeon, but there¡¯s a difference between pulling it off in a simulation and in real life.¡± Decker told her before letting his eyes drift around the lab. ¡°But that does bring up the question on what exactly you plan to do now if you¡¯re really set on being a Mask?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know go out patrol a bit.¡± She shrugged, honestly not sure what she¡¯d be doing next.


    ¡°Well if you intend to do that I¡¯d hold off for a week or so.¡± Decker warned her. ¡°There¡¯s some stuff going on in the Deviant community at night that¡¯s a bit above your pay grade and you look like you could use a rest after that fight.¡±


    ¡°What kind of stuff?¡± She asked, knowing she couldn¡¯t really argue the rest bit given how low on power she was and how beaten up she was too. (Ugh, covering this up with everyone is going to be a hassle¡­)


    Decker gave her a look before sighing. ¡°Since you look like the kind of person to do go out specifically because I told you not to¡­ There¡¯s a city wide warning for Nocturnal Creeps hence why the city is being so strict on its curfew this year.¡±


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    The DJ held up a hand to stop her response. ¡°And before you say anything the Creeps you just fought were probably E Rank while most of the things running around right now are C Rank, possibly B if you count the fact that there are hundreds spread across the city.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± She swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a lot¡­¡±


    ¡°Hence why the city has a truce going on with anyone willing to help out with this little problem.¡± Decker explained. ¡°Which is another reason to limit your patrol, in case you come across someone trying to deal with the Creeps and mistake them for someone up to trouble.¡±


    The DJ frowned. ¡°Actually, now that I think about it, if you do go out on a patrol despite my warning, target the Dealers. Those assholes never help with this kind of thing so go ahead and fuck ¡®em up.¡±


    ¡°Uh, right¡­¡± She nodded, not entirely sure how to feel about a gang lieutenant encouraging her to beat up another gang.


    Decker began to visibly think about something while she processed everything he¡¯d just told her, before eventually saying, ¡°If you¡¯re going to stay involved in the masquerade I¡¯d suggest making a few friends.¡±


    ¡°Friends?¡± She repeated questioningly.


    ¡°Yeah, this is a dangerous biz and you don¡¯t want to be doing it on your own.¡± Decker elaborated. ¡°I mean it¡¯s not like we¡¯re the only Deviants in the city, and while a fair few of them aren¡¯t involved in the masquerade there are plenty who¡¯d be willing to help you out if things go bad for you.¡±


    ¡°Like who?¡± She asked, not wanting to let on that she knew the city¡¯s M.A.D. club.


    ¡°Mm, you should definitely try to find a magic user to help you out, if only to help with the weirder shit.¡± Decker shrugged after a moment, before continuing, ¡°There¡¯s probably a couple of indie heroes and rogues running around who I¡¯m sure would be willing to do a team-up or two pro-bono if you¡¯ve got the right target. Or if you agree to make them some tech, you could probably get a Hunter team to owe you a favor or two. From there, you could probably get a soft-sell from the Jr. heroes if you play your cards right. Though I¡¯d avoid Sanctuary since unless you¡¯re already established they don¡¯t do ¡®soft-sells¡¯ so much as trying to intimidate you into the heroes guild.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ that¡¯s a little more than I was expecting¡­¡± She was willing to admit.


    ¡°I¡¯m the party planner, networking is what I do.¡± Decker dismissed, before digging in one of his pockets. ¡°Speaking of¡­ here.¡±


    ¡°Another card?¡± She frowned, accepting it.


    ¡°I still think you¡¯d be a good fit for the gamer¡¯s guild.¡± Said guild¡¯s lieutenant shrugged nonchalantly.


    ¡°And I told you I¡¯m not joining your gang.¡± She reminded him flatly.


    ¡°Which is why I didn¡¯t give you my card but rather one directing you towards¡­ someone who doesn¡¯t care if you join the gang so long as you''re willing to play the game.¡± Decker explained.


    ¡°And if that doesn¡¯t sound suspicious.¡± She sighed before waving it in the air a bit. ¡°I¡¯ll consider it.¡±


    ¡°If you do go, just tell her I sent you.¡± Decker nodded before standing up and rolling his shoulders. ¡°Well this has been fun, but I do need to get going if I¡¯m going to make my Creep patrol tonight. Last thing I need is my sister bitching me out for being late.¡±


    Despite herself she couldn¡¯t help but snort at that. ¡°I hear that.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget to actually play the game this time, gamer girl. I¡¯ve got my eye on you.¡± The DJ grinned before making his way towards the exit with a wave over his shoulder. ¡°Good luck and have fun.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± She smirked to herself as she looked over the card. ¡°I will.¡±


    (So what now?) Her inner madness asked.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± She wondered, tossing the card on her counter as she made her way to her tools.


    ¡°Now we get to work.¡±

 Turn 75: Bombs, Tasers, Stealth, and Death

    Turn 75: Bombs, Tasers, Stealth, and Death


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°First things, first. We need to restock our explosives.¡± She said as she began moving around her lab to collect the various bits and pieces necessary to build said explosives.


    (Ugh, this is going to become a chore real fast isn¡¯t it.) Her inner madness groaned.


    ¡°If we want to use are bombs with any frequency? Probably.¡± She admitted, taking a seat at her work bench.


    (Look at it this way, the more explosives we stockpile the more dakka we can use in a fight.) Her inner reason tried to, well, reason.


    ¡°Yeah, and it¡¯s not like we have an actual limit on how many explosives we can stock.¡± She agreed before pausing to breakdown the bits of scrap she needed to fuse into her bombs.


    (Still this is going to be so boring¡­) Her inner child whined.


    ¡°Well, if you want to blow things up then you¡¯re just going to have to put up with it.¡± She told herself.


    (Ugh, the things I do for the dakka dakka¡­)


    That made her pause. ¡°Uh, I¡¯m the one doing all the work here.¡±


    (Ugh, the things I do for the dakka dakka¡­) Her inner drama queen repeated.


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained (Trap Making Rank + Electronics Rank + Explosives Rank = 4) Explosive Charges


    -Gained 1XP to Trap Making and Explosives


    --Currently: Trap Making Lv. 1 (3/4) and Explosives Lv. 1 (2/4)


    Note: You¡¯re only getting XP in both because these skills are Lv. 1. I¡¯ll flip a coin for level 2, and you won¡¯t get any for restocking at Lv. 3.


    ---


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s see if this works this time.¡± She told her other selves as she looked at the rings on her middle and ring finger.


    (I don¡¯t believe we should be testing this particular invention while wearing it.) Her inner reason cautiously warned her.


    (Eh, she¡¯s just a coward. Zap something already!) Her inner passion -by contrast- recklessly encouraged.


    ¡°Well, we can¡¯t really test it without wearing it.¡± She pointed out, spinning the two bulky rings so that their magnetic bits connected, thus completing the simple circuitry she¡¯d embedded into them and causing a light to glow on each ring.


    Ever so carefully she reached out towards the medical dummy she¡¯d procured from somewhere in the hospital before flinching back as electricity visibly sparked from her rings stinging her own hand as they electrocuted the dummy.


    ¡°Fuck that stings.¡± She hissed, shaking her hand out, before pulling the rings off and noting how despite the pain there was no true damage to her fingers.


    (The fact that that didn¡¯t burn your fingers off was more luck than anything¡­) Her inner survival instincts sighed.


    She couldn¡¯t help but roll her eyes. ¡°It wasn¡¯t that dangerous. The rings are too small to generate anywhere near enough energy to cause permanent damage, and there is an insulator layer to keep it from directly zapping us.¡±


    As was she¡¯d had to hunt down a terabyte usb just to be able to fit a simple version of her Generator() program into a space small enough to wrap around her fingers, while leaving enough space to add the actual bits necessary to direct the electricity away from her.


    (Uh-huh, and the pile of melted rings we have off to the side isn¡¯t a reason to feel any caution about this?) Her inner logic dryly asked.


    (Of course it isn¡¯t!) Her inner madness agreed, as she very pointedly did not look at the pile of melted rings sitting on her work bench.


    Scene Consequences


    -Developed Taser Rings Mk. 1


    --Add a small amount of Electrical damage to an Unarmed Melee Attack and Stun target for 1 Round. (Costs no Power, 1 Use Per Encounter.)


    --Hidden Weapon: Cannot be detected by mundane means.


    -Gained 1XP to Electronics


    --Currently: Lv. 6 (7/14)


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ---


    ¡°Okay¡­ That should do it¡­¡± She said, after linking her COMP to the newly built Stealth-Pack on her workbench, having finally finished the rushed Stealth Protocols she needed to actually operate said device.


    ¡°They¡¯re not rushed, I just did the minimum necessary to make it work.¡± She argued.


    (Yeah, she didn¡¯t rush it. She half-assed it.)


    (My mistake.)


    ¡°Look, stealth tech is an extremely complicated thing, and I¡¯m not going to know what I need to fix in the programming until I give it a proper test run.¡± She tried to defend herself as she used her COMP to scan herself and then ran that information through her Stealth-Pack.


    She held her hand up in the air before clicking the on button and watching as her hand turned invisi- (transparent, her hand turned transparent not invisible.)


    (I¡¯m aware, I was just trying to make it sound more impressive.) Her inner reason explained.


    (Yeah, but saying it turned invisible when it¡¯s just transparent is a lie.) Her inner madness countered.


    (Well, it¡¯s invisible by video game standards.)


    (Actually-)


    (Invisible by kinder video game standards, rather than the harsh ones that just don¡¯t render invisible enemies.) Her inner logic rushed out with a touch of annoyance.


    (...)


    (...)


    (I¡¯ll allow it.)


    ¡°You two, done?¡± She asked, having spent the last few moments testing out a few details on how her stealth pack operated, and found several flaws.


    Namely that her invis- (transparency.)


    (...)


    (...)


    ¡°...¡±


    Namely that her invisibility quit completely whenever she moved too much.


    ¡°Right, uh, that¡¯s just something we¡¯re going to have to fix later.¡± She told herself with a touch of caution.


    (Yeah, you¡¯ll have to build the other half of that ass.)


    (You¡¯re an ass¡­)


    Scene Consequences


    -Developed Stealth Protocols V1


    --Allows development of Stealth Tech and Upgrades there-in.


    --Allows application of [*Invisibility*] buff, gaining +D6 to all Stealth Checks.


    ---(It¡¯s actually the [Transparency] buff.)


    -Developed Stealth-Pack Mk1


    --While standing still Maya can use Stealth Protocols on herself. (Costs 1 Power per Turn.)


    -Gained 1XP to Electronics and Reality Hacking


    --Currently: Electronics Lv. 6 (8/14) and Reality Hacking Lv. 6 (4/14)


    ---


    With the Bloodhounds and their boss dealt with -and a few upgrades to her kit- she was finally able to actually begin digging through the archive¡¯s records of death. And while she had (disturbingly) found more than one Elizabeth in the records, none of the pictures with those records matched her Elizabeth.


    ¡°Alright, this is starting to get depressing¡­¡± She grimaced, returning yet another file to the cabinet. Some part of her feeling like she had to, less she disrespect the dead the files referenced. ¡°We¡¯ve been through the entire cabinet by now, and haven¡¯t found anything.¡±


    (We¡¯ve only cleared a single cabinet.) Her inner reason reminded her. (Expecting us to find her file that fast is simply unrealistic.)


    ¡°I know¡­¡± She sighed, moving onto the next cabinet and beginning to go through its files. ¡°It¡¯s just this is so¡­ monotonous.¡±


    (And morbid when you realize every face we see is dead.) Her inner emotions helpfully supplied as she glanced at the photo of someone who¡¯d died years ago. (Wasn¡¯t trying to be helpful, just feel we really should acknowledge how morbid this is.)


    ¡°I know exactly how morbid this is.¡± She frowned as she ran a hand down her face. ¡°But if we want to help Elizabeth then we have to do this.¡±


    (Yeah, but this is really underlining the whole existential dread that we¡¯re going to die one day. All while having the added bonus of looking for Deadwoman in a recently demon infested and abandoned hospital in the dark.) Her inner madness pointed out as she withdrew another autopsy report away. (Perfect thing to be doing for the Halloween season.)


    She couldn¡¯t help but pinch the bridge of her nose. ¡°You know, none of that was actually bothering me until you brought all of it up!¡±


    (Well, you''re welcome then.)


    ¡°You¡¯re a fucking idiot.¡± She sighed, realizing this was pointless as she closed another file.


    (Well, I¡¯m you so what does that say about you?)


    (That she¡¯s an idiot who is about to put up Elizabeth¡¯s file.)


    ¡°I¡¯m what?¡± She blinked before reopening the file in her hand.


    Taking a moment to adjust her light to get a better look at the photo within, she found a picture of a young woman who while looking notably more¡­ lively than the Deadwoman she knew, was still close enough to undoubtedly be Elizabeth, if with a bit more color and a fair bit more meat to her bones.


    Her eyes moved to the name on the report, ¡°Elizabeth Addams¡­ This is her!¡±


    (Now that we¡¯ve found her file, perhaps this can help us in our search for Elizabeth¡¯s daughter.) Her inner logic told her, prodding her to keep reading.


    ¡°Right.¡± She nodded, before reading Elizabeth¡¯s date of birth and her date of death. ¡°Fuck¡­ She died over sixteen years ago, and¡­¡± (she was only a couple of years older than me¡­)


    Feeling a sudden bout of reluctance she closed the file.


    (Maya?)


    (...)


    ¡°Um, uh, I don¡¯t¡­ It¡¯s uh, we can read this later.¡± She told herself as she closed the filing cabinet. ¡°We-we found the file, and it¡¯s uh, it¡¯s getting late so we should go ahead and pack it up.¡±


    (Are you sure?)


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure¡­¡± She swallowed, grabbing her light as she stood up. ¡°Besides, we¡¯ve got Elizabeth¡¯s name now, so it¡¯s not like we really have to go prying into her medical history. I mean, it''s-it¡¯s not really our business, is it?¡±


    (...)


    ¡°No, no it¡¯s not.¡± She assured herself, as she held the file of a dead girl little older than herself close to her chest.


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained C Rank Intel = (4D6 + Crit D6) = 20 Intel.


    --Current Elizabeth Intel: 45/100


    -Due to naming a key target gain +D6 to all intel gains for this investigation.

 Halloween Event Prologue: Party Prep and Places to Go

    Halloween Event Prologue: Party Prep and Places to Go


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Ugh, do you have to go out like that?¡± She grimaced, upon seeing Tommy¡¯s costume.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with my costume?¡± Tommy frowned looking down at himself as everyone else busied about getting ready for their various halloween plans.


    ¡°Nothing, if you ignore the fact that you look like a gang member.¡± She told him, even though it was more specifically which gang member he was dressed as that was bothering her.


    ¡°Maybe, but I think people will recognize who I¡¯m supposed to be.¡± Tommy argued as he adjusted his glasses. ¡°And come on, I''ve got to represent the town¡¯s Musical Mask.¡±


    ¡°But do you have to dress as DJ Decker?¡± She asked, just barely holding back her groan. ¡°I mean Vi is at least dressed like Terraform.¡±


    ¡°Yes but that¡¯s because she has an Arcane fetish rather than any personal connection.¡± Tommy pointed out.


    ¡°It¡¯s not my fault Arcane have the best costumes of all Deviants.¡± Vi defended, as she finished drawing dark markings on her arms. ¡°Definitely better than that neon eyesore you¡¯re wearing.¡±


    ¡°Hypocritical given how you''re using glow in the dark paint.¡± Tommy noted.


    ¡°And debatable with all of the M.A.D.s out there.¡± She added, earning an eye roll from her sister.


    ¡°Herminita, all M.A.D.s either wear lab coats or metal suits of armor, they don¡¯t have the same pizzazz that Arcane have with their hundreds of themes.¡± Vi told her. ¡°I mean how many knight themed M.A.D.s are there?¡±


    ¡°Too many.¡± Tommy(¡®s backstabbing ass) agreed with their elder sister.


    ¡°That¡¯s because they¡¯re the good guys and everyone knows knights are the good guys.¡± She tried to defend while mentally cursing her (uncreative, unimaginative, stupid pendejo, lesser) M.A.D. peers.


    ¡°Sure it does.¡± Vi nodded with the amount of condescension that only an elder sibling could pull off.


    She frowned but let the point go as she watched Tommy for a moment. ¡°Hey, uh, are you really sure you¡¯re okay to go out?¡±


    Tommy paused for a moment before letting out a sigh and giving her a soft smile. ¡°I¡¯m doing fine My. It¡¯s been a few weeks and my head¡¯s pretty much clear at this point.¡±


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°Still you know how hectic Halloween can get. I mean the town has this whole curfew thing going on.¡± She reminded him, unable to explain that Decker -a leader of one of the town¡¯s Deviant gangs- had told her it would be best to stay home the next few days because of the things going on in town.


    ¡°Which is why I¡¯m going to be his chaperone.¡± Vi told her


    ¡°You need a chaperone as much as I do.¡± Tommy scoffed.


    ¡°The difference is I¡¯m in college.¡± Vi pointed out as she stuck out her tongue.


    ¡°You know if you both need a chaperone Maya could go with you.¡± Her mam¨¢ volunteered her, getting a grimace from both of the older teens.


    (Wow you can just feel their love.)


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I mean this crowd is a bit¡­ older for her.¡± Tommy admitted.


    ¡°Meaning all the more reason for her to go with you!¡± Her mam¨¢ grinned. ¡°After all, you¡¯d both be twice as careful with your little sister tagging along.¡±


    ¡°Well, uh, what about her going with you guys to that community party at the police station?¡± Vi wondered. ¡°I mean there¡¯s bound to be more people her age at that kind of thing.¡±


    ¡°True.¡± Her mam¨¢ nodded.


    ¡°Uh, don¡¯t I get a say in this?¡± She frowned. ¡°Because I was planning on just staying home, playing some horror games, and handing out some candy to anyone trick or treating.¡±


    What she didn¡¯t say was that plan was mostly so that she could rest up after the beating she¡¯d taken at the hospital when clearing out the Bloodhounds.


    (Honestly, it¡¯s been a miracle you¡¯ve been able to hide all of your bruises for this long.) Her inner logic told her.


    (Yeah, we are really lucky ADHD runs in the family.) Her inner madness agreed.


    ¡°I know mija, but I just feel bad leaving you here by yourself while we¡¯re all going out to these parties.¡± Her mam¨¢ sighed. ¡°Are you really sure you want to stay home by yourself? I mean it is a holiday.¡±


    (I get why mam¨¢ wants us to go but at the same time I really would like to just lay down and call it a night¡­)


    (Yeah, but think about it, you''re basically being invited to one of Vi and Tommy¡¯s cool kid parties.) In her passion pointed out. (That¡¯s something we¡¯ve wanted since we were like twelve.)


    (Well less invited and more having them told to take us.) Her inner reason argued. (And we¡¯ve never been the most sociable of sorts so we¡¯d probably just spend the night hanging around the walls.)


    (Still who know what secrets the cool kids hold!)


    (Truthfully if we must go somewhere, I¡¯d be more partial to staying near the younger members of our family.) Her inner logic admitted. (If something does go wrong we¡¯d be there to keep them safe.)


    (If we¡¯re going off that point, then they¡¯d be more than safe hanging around the police station with the rents at a community kids¡¯ party.) Her inner madness countered. (Vi and Tommy on the other hand will be all on their own at a party that¡¯s probably going to have alcohol and stuff. Do you really want to leave them unattended?)


    (We both know they¡¯re far more responsible than that.) Her inner reason scoffed.


    (And we know the rest of the family will be safe at the station.) Her inner passion -metaphorically- nodded.


    ¡°Maya?¡± Her mam¨¢ asked, breaking her out of her thoughts, and causing her to reflexively answer.

 Halloween Event (Pt. 2): A Party With A Different Kind Of Scary

    Halloween Event (Pt. 2): A Party With A Different Kind Of Scary


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Well if I have to go, I guess I¡¯m kind of curious about Vi and Tommy¡¯s party.¡±


    She blatantly ignored Vi¡¯s silent curse, even as Tommy went on to point out that, ¡°We¡¯re going to a costume party, if she¡¯s going to be going with us she¡¯ll need a costume.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Their mam¨¢ nodded.


    ¡°I mean we could probably come up with something, but I¡¯m not sure if we¡¯ll be able to get it together before we all have to leave for our stuff.¡± Tommy continued, appearing for all the world as if he was legitimately worried about her not getting to go with them.


    (He always was the better actor of the two.)


    (Shame we can see straight through it after so many years.)


    (Yep, really feeling the love, hermano.)


    ¡°And if this is her first real party we shouldn¡¯t force her to stand ou-¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry about that.¡± Their mam¨¢ interrupted Tommy as she reached into a bag she¡¯d set on the counter. ¡°I got this in case she changed her mind about heading out tonight.¡±


    ¡°Pfft.¡± Vi slapped a hand over her mouth as she transitioned from a laugh into a cough, earning an odd look from their mother and brother as she waved the pair off.


    Whether it was because of the costume itself or the face she knew she was making, Maya couldn¡¯t tell. (Either way she¡¯s laughing at us, I just know it¡­)


    ¡°Uh, this is¡­ a costume.¡± She said, trying to keep the twitch of her eye to a minimum.


    ¡°S¨ª, I saw how you were looking at it when we were getting Seamus and Izzy their costumes so I figured I¡¯d get it for you should you quit being stubborn about Halloween.¡± Her mam¨¢ -(Who loves you and isn¡¯t doing this to piss you off.) (But totally would if she knew.)- told her.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ nice of you.¡± She forced out as she stared at the -(stereotype)- mad scientist costume in front of her, earning another smothered laugh from Vi. (Who I¡¯d like to smother.)


    (I¡¯m sure we can find a pillow or something.)


    (Let¡¯s please not resort to sororicide just yet.)


    ---


    ¡°Alright, so you remember the rules right.¡± Vi asked once more as they walked through the old trainyard to the party their friends had set up.


    ¡°Yes.¡± She nodded, as she adjusted her goggles and lab coat. ¡°Don¡¯t leave the party without one of you. Don¡¯t accept drinks or food from anyone. If anyone is giving me trouble, find one of you or one of the security guys.¡± (Or just tase them with our ring.)


    (We should probably save that for an emergency so Vi doesn¡¯t ask why we have a weapon on us.)


    (If we use the taser then we have proof that we needed self-defense, duh.)


    ¡°You forgot not to wander into any of the train carts.¡± Tommy threw out. ¡°Admittedly not as dangerous as the other stuff, but still something you should probably avoid.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± She frowned.


    Tommy gave Vi an amused look. ¡°You want to explain it to us, big sis? Why your impressionable hermanitos shouldn¡¯t go wandering into the train carts?¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Their sister gave him a glare for that, before eventually letting out a sigh. ¡°The carts are where some people wander off for¡­ privacy.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± She nodded, not really getting it.


    (Which is surprising given how much smut you read.)


    (What¡¯s that supposed to-) ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Vi grimaced.


    ¡°Uh, do the rents know this is going to be that kind of party?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Fuck no.¡± Tommy laughed before shaking his head. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s not that bad but when you mix alcohol with this many seniors and college kids you¡¯re bound to get some people who want to try something when no one is looking.¡±


    ¡°Which again is why I want you to stay close to one of us at all times.¡± Vi told her. ¡°And no drinking anything with alcohol.¡±


    It was just now occurring to her that this was an actual not-for-kids party she was going to. (Mistakes may¡¯ve been made.)


    Rather than admitting this, she instead asked, ¡°Uh, how many people are going to be here exactly?¡±


    ¡°Not a lot.¡± Tommy shrugged. ¡°With the curfew and everything else there are fewer people coming out for this party than our usual ones.¡±


    Vi scoffed. ¡°You¡¯re standards for a lot are a nearly sold out concert, by her standards the hundred or so people here are going to be a lot. Hell, if we¡¯re being honest, this is probably throwing her in the deep end as far as this kind of thing goes.¡±


    ¡°That, uh, that doesn¡¯t sound good.¡± She finally confessed, as her inner introvert told her, (This may¡¯ve been a bad idea.)


    (Nah, this¡¯ll be easy.) Her inner madness disagreed.


    (What makes you say that?! We are not a people person, we are a wallflower!) Her inner reason panicked. (What are we even supposed to do at a party?!)


    (I don¡¯t know, get into a fight with someone? That¡¯s what we did at our last rave.)


    She paused to consider that.


    (She¡¯s not wrong.)


    (That doesn¡¯t- That was different!)


    (Nah, we got this, and if it becomes too much we just need to find someone and punch their lights out.)


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re getting close.¡± Tommy told them as the faint thumping of music grew closer as they neared the trainyard¡¯s main station, a number of colored lights pouring out from within.


    Even outside she spotted a handful of people in costumes lingering outside of the party, a couple of them very clearly smoking, and a few more than that with beer bottles in their hands.


    Forcing herself to keep calm, she followed her elder siblings into the train station where she spotted what was definitely more than ¡®not a lot¡¯ of people. (There¡¯s got to be at least a hundred people here¡­)


    (One hundred and three¡­ I counted¡­)


    (You¡¯re both being babies about this.) Her inner passion scoffed. (I mean just look around, this is no different than Decker¡¯s rave, just with a different venue.)


    (Except we have no weapons, and no actual objective to focus on for the evening!) Her inner logic argued.


    (Well we could try having fun?)


    (Everyone here is older than us! We¡¯re just going to look like the sad younger sibling that annoyed their elder sibling to- Mios dios, we are the younger sibling that annoyed their elder sibling into bringing them to the party!)


    A hand touching her shoulder caused her to jump, and Vi gave her a concerned look as she pulled back her hand. ¡°You okay My?¡±


    She swallowed before nodding and then shaking her head as she looked at all the people. ¡°I just, uh, I just realized I have no idea what to do at a party¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, uh¡­¡± Vi looked around the party before giving Tommy a concerned look.


    Her elder siblings had a brief silent conversation before Tommy gave a sigh, ¡°Alright, well¡­ I¡¯m pretty sure the dance floor is open if you want to try that?¡±


    ¡°Uh, yeah, I¡¯m¡­ I can¡¯t, um, dance¡­¡± Or she couldn¡¯t dance in front of so many people.


    Tommy gave a snort of amusement. ¡°Yeah, most people here can¡¯t dance but pretty much everyone is buzzed enough that no one cares about how badly anyone dances.¡±


    (But the people¡­)


    ¡°Or we could just hang back and people watch?¡± Vi suggested, putting a hand on her shoulder. ¡°Everyone here is dressed up so there¡¯s plenty of stuff to comment on? And judging costumes from the sidelines is something nice and easy.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, we did tell our friends we were going to be here so they¡¯re probably going to find us wherever we end up. Might be better to just find them now and carve out a little corner for ourselves somewhere.¡± Tommy pointed out. ¡°That¡¯ll give us all a ¡®safe space¡¯ in case anyone gets tired of everything.¡±


    ¡°But it also means wading through the crowd before Maya can get used to all of this.¡± Vi frowned. ¡°I mean it¡¯s a good idea, but I don¡¯t want to risk her getting overwhelmed before she can get used to the crowd, lights, and music.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Tommy nodded, rubbing the back of his neck before turning to look at her. ¡°How about it? What do you feel comfortable with My?¡±


    She glanced around the party, at all of the people moving and dancing, the loud lights and music playing, and her elder siblings before telling them

 Halloween Event (Pt. 3): Watching From The Sidelines

    Halloween Event (Pt. 3): Watching From The Sidelines


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Let¡¯s um, let¡¯s do the people watching¡­ thing.¡± (That shouldn¡¯t be too hard.)


    ¡°Alright, then let¡¯s just, let¡¯s just find someplace a little¡­ out of the way and we can do that.¡± Vi promised her while rubbing Maya¡¯s shoulder as she glanced around the room.


    ¡°Come on, there¡¯s some stairs up to back platform over this way.¡± Tommy told them, while gesturing for them to follow. ¡°It¡¯s opposite of the platform they use for the bands and there should be a few quieter spaces since everyone wants to be close to the bands or on the main floor.¡±


    Both of them followed after their brother who clearly had a better understanding of the building¡¯s layout than either of them. With Vi leading her through the crowd with a firm grip on her arm so that they wouldn¡¯t be separated, and her trying to ignore just how many people were surrounding her.


    ¡°Just stay calm, and breathe. I can see the stairs he was talking about.¡± Vi assured her.


    ¡°Right, just¡­ I-I knew there was going to be people here but¡­ I was expecting like a house party not¡­ this.¡± She tried to explain.


    ¡°I know.¡± Vi sighed as they started up the stairs. ¡°Honestly, I probably should¡¯ve figured this was going to be harder on you then the summer festival. I mean there are just as many people in half as much space, and that¡¯s before we add the lights and music making everything harder for your¡­ issues.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but grimace at that. ¡°I hadn¡¯t even thought about that¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well¡­ I should¡¯ve.¡± Vi frowned at herself. ¡°I should¡¯ve realized this was going to be too much for you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not¡­ I¡¯m the one who insisted I tag along.¡± She tried to argue.


    ¡°Nah, if you remember it was Mam¨¢ that insisted you tag along with us or her.¡± Tommy cut in, as they caught up with him. ¡°So honestly it¡¯s neither of your faults.¡±


    ¡°Yes, blaming your parents for your problems, the smart thing to do.¡± Vi agreed with no small amount of sarcasm.


    ¡°It¡¯s the teenage way.¡± Tommy nodded before gesturing towards a nearby set of stairs. ¡°Over here is probably best if we want to avoid the crowd. They usually block this side off so there¡¯s only one way up to the VIP area.¡±


    ¡°A teenage party has a VIP area?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Eh, yes and no.¡± Tommy answered with a so-so gesture. ¡°It¡¯s not really a VIP area but the handful of rich kids who pay for security pretty much claim it for themselves in exchange for hiring security to keep the crowds safe. Don¡¯t know the whole story, just that it¡¯s been like that for the last few years.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She nodded before taking a seat on the stairs.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Well, you said you wanted to look at the costumes, right?¡± Vi asked her after a moment.


    ¡°Uh, yeah¡­¡± (Though that was more to do something away from the crowd.)


    ¡°In that case¡­ let¡¯s ignore the half of the crowd dressed as their favorite Masks.¡± Tommy told them as he leaned against the railing. ¡°When there¡¯s so many heroes in the crowd it kind of makes them uninteresting you know?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, at least half of these girls came here as Terraform.¡± She agreed, pointedly looking at her sister after spotting at least three others.


    ¡°She¡¯s the town hero.¡± Vi tried to defend.


    ¡°Which is why you really should¡¯ve expected half of these girls to come dressed like her.¡± Tommy pointed out, before gesturing to himself. ¡°Why do you think I came as a villain? People are half as likely to dress as the town villains as they are the heroes, herminita.¡±


    ¡°Pendejo.¡± Vi told him before looking over the crowd for an interesting costume, before spotting one. ¡°Ooh, what do you think that guy is supposed to be?¡±


    Following her finger, Maya saw a monochrome teen with pale white skin and black hair, wearing a dark vest and tailcoat alongside an overconfident swagger of some kind.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ A vampire maybe?¡± She offered.


    ¡°Maybe, but there¡¯s no blood or crosses or anything vampiric beyond the whole pale white thing.¡± Tommy pointed out. ¡°Honestly, if it wasn¡¯t for how dark his clothes are it¡¯d be just as accurate to say the guy¡¯s a ghost.¡±


    ¡°Maybe he¡¯s just a goth?¡± Vi shrugged as the boy started to talk to some girl. ¡°I mean they do have their own style that just fits this holiday.¡±


    ¡°Nah, that¡¯s too boring.¡± She frowned, feeling something inside her head itch as she stared at the teen.


    (Look at him, the guy is clearly an old black and white cartoon character.) Her inner madness told her.


    Blinking, she gave the teen another once over and said, ¡°Huh, actually he does kind of look like an old cartoon character.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, yeah I can see that.¡± Tommy nodded before checking his phone as it chimed. ¡°Uh, the guys are looking for me. Our band is supposed to start getting ready to perform.¡± He turned to look at both of them with a concerned glance. ¡°Are you two going to be alright on-


    Tommy¡¯s question was cut off by a scream from nearby, before the sound of shattering glass drew her attention to a massive fireball erupting from the VIP area. One that sent people scattering as it crashed into the ground before shifting to reveal a large man with muscles so large they seemed to be tearing his skin.


    ¡°Shit, a Deviant attack!¡± Vi cursed, grabbing both her and Tommy by their arms and dragging them off the stairs.


    ¡°We need to get out of here and call Sanctuary.¡± Tommy told them as he spun around and started pushing Maya forward. ¡°There¡¯s a side exit this way, it¡¯ll be safer than risking going anywhere near that thing.¡±


    ¡°I-What, what are we supposed to do?¡± She asked, her first instinct being to (Fight this stupid pendejo for ruining our night!) while her first real thought was (No, we can¡¯t risk dragging Vi or Tommy into a fight.)


    ¡°Just keep moving.¡± Vi answered a phone to her ear as both of her elder siblings hurried her towards the exit.


    Glancing over her shoulder she saw something crash into the burning Deviant, forcing it back into the platform.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Tommy cursed as he shouldered the door. ¡°I don¡¯t know if it''s broken or if they barred it off, but this isn¡¯t opening.¡±


    ¡°And Sanctuary¡¯s line is fucking busy!¡± Vi hissed glaring at her phone.


    ¡°What about the Heroes¡¯ Guild?¡± Tommy suggested.


    ¡°Give me a second.¡± Vi told him as she dialed their hotline.


    Glancing back at the ongoing fight, her eyes darted between the waring Deviants and her elder siblings as she tried to figure out what she could do.

 Halloween Event (Pt. 4): Fleeing The Fire Fight

    Halloween Event (Pt. 4): Fleeing The Fire Fight


    --- Maya ---


    Grimacing to herself she pulled out her COMP and began adjusting her sonic energy burst to open the door without causing so much noise or damage that it would attract the attention of the two Deviants fighting behind her.


    (Are you sure this is a good idea?) Her inner logic wondered.


    (Maybe not but we¡¯ve got to make sure they don¡¯t get hurt.) She told herself.


    (Vi already knows we¡¯re an M.A.D. So what does it matter if Tommy finds out.) Her inner madness added. (Besides he ain¡¯t no snitch bitch.)


    Once her program was ready she inhaled before turning to her still bickering siblings. ¡°Step aside.¡±


    ¡°Maya?¡± Vi blinked before her eyes widened as she recognized the COMP in Maya¡¯s hands, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m opening the door.¡± She answered walking closer to it.


    ¡°Uh, how are you going to do that?¡± Tommy asked, eyeing the device in her hands.


    ¡°Like this.¡± She said, before firing off her Burst(Sonic) program at the door, causing it to shake but not open as the door slammed against something on the other side. ¡°Fuck, they blocked off the otherside.¡±


    ¡°W-what the fuck was that?¡± Tommy stammered out.


    ¡°A high powered sonic pulse condensed into a thirty degree angle and fired at a half meter distance instead of a three-sixty angle with a twenty meter radius.¡± She broke down as she stepped to the side and fired said sonic pulse at an angle hoping to take advantage of the door¡¯s hinges for superior leverage.


    Once more the door shook but this time the gap opened up about half a foot. (Which isn¡¯t enough for us to squeeze through.)


    Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a teen in one of the Gamer Guild¡¯s hoodies dancing around the Burning Man while occasionally lashing out with a pair of spectral arms floating behind her before being blasted back by a wave of flames.


    Shaking her head, she once more adjusted her angle while idly hearing Tommy ask Vi if she knew about this, before firing another Burst(Sonic) and forcing the door open about half a meter.


    ¡°We should be able to get through now.¡± She told her siblings as she started squeezing through the gap.


    Once she was through, she walked a bit away from the gap, knowing that her siblings were just behind her and not entirely sure how they¡¯d react to what she just did.


    Vi because she¡¯d just done something a little more offensive than anything her sister had seen before. (We¡¯ll have to figure out something to tell her when she asks.)


    And Tommy who hadn¡¯t known she was an M.A.D. at all before this. (He¡¯s not going to care, he¡¯s too laid back for that.)


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    (I¡¯m still going to have to figure out what I¡¯m going to tell him too.)


    ¡°Okay, okay¡­ You¡¯re a¡­ an M.A.D.¡± Tommy said once he and Vi had followed her out into the trainyard proper. ¡°Cool¡­ cool¡­ I just need a minute to process.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t tell if he¡¯s taking this better or worse than you did.¡± She admitted to Vi as she watched Tommy ¡®process¡¯.


    ¡°So you did know about this?¡± Tommy nodded with a look at their elder sister.


    ¡°Yeah, she¡­ she told me during the summer festival¡­ She um, she used this thing -that thing- to help find Izzy.¡± Vi explained with a gesture towards Maya¡¯s COMP. ¡°But I didn¡¯t know it could blow a door off its hinges.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that strong.¡± She denied, half honestly if you ignored her Hand Cannons. ¡°I needed a couple shots just to open the door, and a lot of that was based on leverage and targeted weaknesses in the structural integrity.¡±


    ¡°And why did your¡­ thing have a¡­ sonic blaster?¡± Vi asked, with a half suspicious gaze.


    ¡°Because-¡± A sudden explosion from inside the train station had all three of them wincing.


    ¡°Um, I think we should probably walk and talk.¡± Tommy chuckled a little nervously, as he pulled out his phone.


    ¡°Right, yeah.¡± Vi agreed with a grimace as the nearby wall seemed to shake. ¡°The car shouldn¡¯t be too far away, so we just, we just need to get back to the car and we¡¯ll be in the clear.¡±


    Once they started moving she began to fiddle with the device in her hand before saying, ¡°I call it a COMP, it um¡­ it¡¯s mostly a processor for super software? Like that minimap GPS thing I showed you, but I¡¯ve added like a medical scanner to it¡­ And I use a sonar thing I made by repurposing some of Tommy¡¯s old Amps to get sonic imaging instead of X-Rays or something radioactive¡­ I um, I repurposed those by focusing down their sonar pulses and then overclocking it with¡­ enough power to run our entire house for a bit¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why you were collecting so much junk over the summer.¡± Tommy guessed, remembering all of her scavenging from around the house a couple of months prior. ¡°You were building that thing, your COMP¡­ I¡¯m guessing short for computer or something?¡±


    ¡°Computational Operating Mega Processor.¡± She answered.


    ¡°And how long did it take you to come up with that acronym?¡± Her hermano snorted.


    ¡°I¡­ ¡®m not going to answer that.¡± She told him, feeling just a bit of heat in her cheeks.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m guessing you gave up on clever acronyms when you made your¡­ little minions.¡± Vi noted, having apparently accepted her explanation for why she had the tools to cause a sonic bang.


    ¡°Little minions?¡± Tommy repeated in an odd tone.


    ¡°Yeah, these little furry squirrel looking things she grew that help make other inventions.¡± Vi explained with her own odd tone. (The weirdos.)


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    ¡°Technically the LCMs are based more on rat DNA than squirrel.¡± She told her elder siblings. ¡°Mostly because DM-1 was throwing the rats he killed into the bio-pod when I assigned him to cleaning.¡±


    ¡°Demone?¡± Vi frowned.


    ¡°Oh, uh, he was the first one I made.¡± She explained, hoping Vi would just assume that he was another LCM.


    ¡°Uh-huh, and he kills things?¡± Tommy laughed oddly.


    ¡°That uh, that sounds¡­ worse than it is?¡± She offered, (knowing that it¡¯s a blatant lie.) (Shut up!) ¡°I uh, trained him out of that¡­¡± (more or less¡­) (She lies.) (I said shut up!)


    ¡°That¡¯s uh, that¡¯s good.¡± Vi nodded, with a manic laugh. ¡°Oh, look there¡¯s the car!¡±


    The night suddenly grew very bright, and they all turned around to watch a massive silver hand slam an equally massive fireball into the ground, unleashing a pillar of fire into the air and lighting the world as if it were day.


    ¡°So, um¡­ home?¡± She asked, knowing that whatever that was was probably beyond her pay grade.


    ¡°Yeah, home sounds nice right about now.¡±

 Halloween Event (Pt. 5): Heading Home

    Halloween Event (Pt. 5): Heading Home


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°So, uh, what¡¯s the word on everyone who was supposed to be at the party?¡± Vi asked after they¡¯d been sitting in the car for several awkwardly silent minutes.


    ¡°Um, everyone we care about got out safe¡­ apparently two other Deviants got in a fight with the, uh, Burning Man which let everyone get away.¡± Tommy answered, going over his phone.


    Vi let out a relieved sigh. ¡°That¡¯s good.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, some of them are trying to get another party going somewhere else, but¡­¡± She pretended not to notice how Tommy¡¯s eyes dashed towards her. ¡°I figured it¡¯d be best to just call it a night all things considered.¡±


    Vi grimaced before nodding. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s probably for the best.¡±


    ¡°I tried letting the ¡®rents know our party was canceled but I haven¡¯t gotten a response from them.¡± Tommy frowned looking down at his phone. ¡°I mean, I know it''s probably nothing but¡­¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t help but worry after everything?¡± Vi figured.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Tommy sighed. ¡°I mean I know they¡¯re at the police station so they should be fine, but I wish one of them would just answer their phones.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still early, they probably haven¡¯t even given them a second look.¡± She suggested. ¡°I mean it¡¯s only like what, nine o¡¯ clock? They¡¯ve been there maybe an hour, hour and a half. Mom¡¯s probably showing off how cute Izzy and Seamus are to all of the neighborhood moms and such.¡±


    ¡°Or Izzy ¡®s managed to sneak away to that haunted house thing.¡± Vi threw out before shaking her head. ¡°Hopefully she didn¡¯t drag Autumn into whatever trouble she¡¯s up to.¡±


    ¡°She was going to the party?¡± Tommy blinked. ¡°I thought her folks and the cops didn¡¯t really get along.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s less her dads and more her sister that has trouble with the cops.¡± Vi explained with a shrug. ¡°They might just be going to try and smooth over something she did.¡±


    ¡°Wait, Autumn has a sister?¡± She cut in with a frown, because while Izzy¡¯s friend rarely came around their house she was pretty sure she¡¯d have heard something about her having a sister.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s uh¡­ That¡¯s a sore spot for them.¡± Tommy told her with a grimace. ¡°Lots of family drama that really isn¡¯t our place. So don¡¯t bring it up with them¡­¡±


    (But I¡¯m curious!) Her inner child whined.


    Instead of admitting that though, she (wisely) chose to bite her lip and keep quiet on the subject she knew nothing about. (No matter how badly I want to know¡­)


    ¡°Right, so uh, Maya you¡¯re a Deviant¡­ What¡¯s that like?¡± Tommy asked after a moment, refusing to let things fall into an awkward silence again. ¡°I mean¡­ you¡¯ve got minions apparently so is that like the shows and movies or¡­ what?¡±


    Vi gave Tommy a look that Maya couldn¡¯t quite decipher even as her brother responded with a shrug. ¡°Hey if she¡¯s planning to take over the city I¡¯d like to know in advance.¡±


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    She frowned as Vi swatted their brother. ¡°I¡¯m not planning to take over the city.¡± (Anymore.) (Yet.) (Let¡¯s face it we¡¯re on the fence.)


    ¡°Joking. Joking.¡± Tommy told them as he raised his hands in defense. ¡°But seriously, what all are you involved in Deviant wise? I know you got me that anti-mind control charm, which is¡­ magic stuff¡­ I think¡­¡±


    She made a face. ¡°Bleh, magic is just science we haven¡¯t figured out yet.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯ve heard¡­¡± Vi told her with some amusement.


    ¡°Anyway, my school apparently has a magic club or something and I asked an Arcane there if he knew any place with magic.¡± She explained with a shake of her head. ¡°He pointed me to the store where I got your charm¡­ for more money than it¡¯s worth.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, thing ¡®s been working as far as I can tell.¡± Tommy argued, pulling the charm out from under his collar and making her wonder how valid the thing actually was.


    (Thinking about it, we probably could¡¯ve tested that out if we¡¯d thought to bring it with us against those Bloodhounds.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    (But would you trust magic to keep us safe?) She frowned.


    (And we wouldn¡¯t have been able to show up Decker if we¡¯d stopped to collect all our gear.) Her inner madness threw in.


    (Perhaps, or we could¡¯ve shown him up without his help.) Her inner logic noted dryly.


    (But¡­ ¡®magic¡¯!) Just thinking about relying on it left her with a bad taste in her mouth.


    ¡°So aside from befriending an Arcane-¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not friends, he¡¯s an asshole.¡± Even after one conversation she was willing to (prematurely) label him as such.


    (He slammed a door in our face!)


    (After we insulted his craft.)


    (His craft is magic, which makes it stupid by default.) Her inner passion defended her.


    ¡°Maya?¡± Tommy called, snapping her out of her thoughts.


    ¡°Sorry, what was that?¡± She blinked, before noticing that they were pulling up to their house.


    ¡°He was asking what else you¡¯ve been up to.¡± Vi answered as she opened her door. ¡°Like with that M.A.D. club you were telling me about.¡±


    ¡°M.A.D. club?¡± Tommy asked, climbing out of the car.


    ¡°Yeah, I haven¡¯t been, but she invited me to see it at some point¡­ over a month ago.¡± Vi explained, giving her a look.


    She¡¯d gotten so caught up with training to get her armor up, trying to find Tommy¡¯s attacker, and then rushing everything at the hospital with the Bloodhounds and Elizabeth that she, ¡°Honestly kind of forgot about that¡­ I¡¯ll uh, I¡¯ll ask next time I go over¡­ I think I¡¯ve been there long enough to bring guests.¡± (Though we don¡¯t really have much to show off there since we¡¯ve been rooming with Kim or Melvin¡­)


    (We could always build a ¡®false¡¯ base there.) Her inner logic suggested. (I¡¯m sure they¡¯d be more comfortable with us being there than at the hospital.)


    (But the hospital comes with a ghost waifu!) Her inner madness whined.


    (True but the club comes with an M.A.D. waifu.) Her inner reason pointed out. (Maybe even more than one.)


    (Valid point. Valid point.)


    She ran a hand down her face in exasperation, (act like she doesn¡¯t secretly want a harem.)


    ¡°You okay My?¡± Vi asked, holding the front door open for her.


    ¡°Um, yeah¡­ just a little out of it¡­¡± She admitted as she pushed the voices in her head to the back of it. ¡°Long night I guess¡­¡±


    ¡°Feels like it.¡± Vi agreed with a wry grin. ¡°Might just go ahead and crash myself.¡±


    ¡°Boo! You two are going to let a Deviant attack ruin your night?¡± Tommy frowned as he dramatically leapt onto the couch. ¡°It¡¯s not even ten yet! You guys can¡¯t crash this early on Halloween!¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the one who wanted to call it a night in the car?¡± Vi reminded him, trying to shove their hermano onto the couch.


    ¡°I¡¯m never the one to end the party.¡± Tommy argued with false offense as he hopped out of the way and continued to stand on the furniture. ¡°I was just thinking of a change of venue from something crowded to someplace for just me and mi hermanas!¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Vi crossed her arms. ¡°And what exactly were you thinking?¡±

 Halloween Event (Finale): End of the Night

    Halloween Event (Finale): End of the Night


    ¡°No, you dumbasses you¡¯ve got to burn the corpse!¡± Vi yelled, throwing popcorn at the screen as the film¡¯s survivors left the Slasher¡¯s body behind.


    ¡°Does that really work or do they just heal from that too?¡± She wondered, for purely scientific reasons.


    ¡°Think it depends on the type of Slasher.¡± Tommy shrugged. ¡°Those magic-y ones are sometimes immune, but this is one of those physical stalker guys so it should put him down for good.¡±


    ¡°Either way they shouldn¡¯t just be walking away from the fucker!¡± Vi groaned, more into this than her or Tommy. ¡°I mean at least cut his head off, or something!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d think people would realize bullets only do so much good against Deviants.¡± She sighed with a shake of her head.


    ¡°Oh, feeling the Deviant superiority already?¡± Tommy grinned. ¡°Guess you M.A.D.s really are all megalomaniacs. Hate to break it to you hermanita but a bullet would put you down just as easily as it would me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant.¡± She glared before tossing a handful of popcorn at her brother. ¡°It¡¯s just like, do guns work on anything other than low level M.A.D.s? I mean they don¡¯t stop Slashers, Deadmen, Malcontent, Creeps, or really any of the stuff we see in the movies.¡±


    ¡°Has to do with Deviant physiology.¡± Vi chimed in dryly as she watched the survivors try and fail to call Sanctuary, the Hero¡¯s Guild, or even the police due to people forgetting to charge their cell phones.


    ¡°Uh, what does?¡± She blinked.


    ¡°Looked it up once when I saw some Sanctuary agent with a sword.¡± Vi explained looking bored as the Slasher¡¯s body was discovered missing save for a bloody smear on the floor. ¡°Apparently, things with a healing factor and super strength have this weird thing going on with their muscles where the density is high enough to prevent bullets from going all the way through and their healing factors will just push the bullets back out through the path of least resistance, since each individual bullet registers as a single instance of healing.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but how does that explain the sword thing?¡± Tommy wondered, looking morbidly fascinated by this.


    (Like we¡¯re not.)


    ¡°Something about surface area damage.¡± Vi answered with a thoughtful look as she tried to remember whatever morbid biology report she¡¯d read. ¡°Since the exit wound is usually worse than the entrance wound, and their muscles prevent that, the best way to circumvent a healing factor is to create wounds with a greater surface area to slow the healing by making it spread itself out over each instance. From there you then focus on tearing up muscle, breaking bones, and whatever else will disable them for a few minutes until you eventually outpace whatever is powering the healing.¡±


    ¡°Which is why enough bullets would work in putting something down, but a melee weapon could theoretically do it faster.¡± She realized, as she played the scenario out in her mind and the whispers began to fill in the blanks for her.


    ¡°Right.¡± Vi nodded, eating a handful of popcorn as another survivor bit the dust in a bloody fashion.


    ¡°You know, sometimes I¡¯m a little scared of what¡¯s got to be in your internet history.¡± Tommy admitted. ¡°I mean with My it¡¯s just the regular teen browser history of smut and porn-¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    ¡°-but you¡­ yours has got to hit like a serial killer red flag or something.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not that bad.¡± Vi tried to defend with a sheepish look.


    ¡°No, no, you¡¯re totally one of those people who secretly collects serial killer trading cards or something.¡± Tommy continued, unimpeded.


    ¡°Wha- So does Maya!¡± Her big sister argued, attempting to throw her under the bus.


    ¡°Yeah, but those are junk cards I got in pursuit of my M.A.D. deck.¡± She reminded said sister with a touch of vindictiveness. ¡°In fact, even though I don¡¯t know what Slasher cards I¡¯ve got, since you¡¯re such a big fan of them I¡¯ll go ahead and give you all of them if you want them.¡±


    Vi made a face before throwing popcorn at them. ¡°Fuck both of you.¡±


    ¡°Sorry hermanita but you¡¯re just not my type.¡± Tommy sighed with a mournful shake of his head.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Yeah, well¡­ you¡¯re no one¡¯s type.¡± Vi threw out petulantly, as Maya heard something in the background.


    Tommy snorted. ¡°I can guarantee that¡¯s false.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what you¡¯re some kind of don juan now, hermano?¡± Vi scoffed, before teasing, ¡°We got to be worried about any sobrinos on the way?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I hope not. He¡¯s a bit young to be a father.¡± Their own father cut in as he entered the living room looking worse for wear. ¡°And like to think we raised you gremlins better than that.¡±


    All three of them fell silent for a minute as the rest of their family followed in, both of their parents looking run down, with their father frazzled and their mam¨¢¡¯s makeup running. ¡°Uh, are you guys okay?¡±


    ¡°Um, uh, it¡¯s been a rough night.¡± Their dad answered with a wry grin as Vi and her got up for their rents to take their seats.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess that was the case for all of us.¡± Tommy nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. ¡°So how bad was it for you guys? We at least got out before the Masks started fighting.¡±


    ¡°There was a¡­ Creep invasion at the police station.¡± Their dad explained as their mam¨¢ leaned against him, refusing to let go of Seamus even as he struggled in her grasp.


    ¡°Another one?¡± Vi grimaced, likely remembering the summer festival.


    An event she remembered, but stood out less prominently than Decker¡¯s warning about the, (Halloween Haunt¡­)


    ¡°Mm-hmm, we were safe in the main room with all of the officers but apparently before everything went sideways Izzy and Autumn wandered off and-¡±


    ¡°Wait, where is Izzy?!¡± She blinked, noticing that her hermanita hadn¡¯t followed their parents into the living room.


    A loud pop and hissing caused her to jump, the sudden sound having given her a bigger scare than anything the horror movie had, as she turned to find said sister cracking a soda. ¡°Here, I was grabbing something from the kitchen.¡±


    Though upon spotting her she noticed that Izzy was the only one who¡¯d gone to the police station not looking worn out.


    (Not true. Seamus is just looking annoyed at mam¨¢) Her inner madness noted.


    ¡°Anyway, we ran to this cool guy who killed two of the Creeps and saved Seamus before helping the cops out with something.¡± Izzy continued the story, looking a lot more calm saying all of that than she should.


    ¡°Saved Seamus?¡± Vi repeated, looking like she wasn¡¯t sure she wanted an answer.


    Their mam¨¢ held Seamus closer to his frustration.


    ¡°One of the Creeps got in and lunged for your brother before the¡­ uh, guy that brought Izzy back, uh, dealt with it¡­¡± Their father elaborated, looking uncomfortable at the memory.


    ¡°Well, I guess¡­ I guess it¡¯s a good thing there was a hunter there¡­¡± Tommy offered, looking just as frazzled as he¡¯d been when he¡¯d suddenly discovered Maya was an M.A.D.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he was a Hunter.¡± Izzy chimed in with a curious look. ¡°I mean, he looked like a teenager, maybe around Maya or Tommy¡¯s age?¡±


    ¡°That young?¡± Vi frowned. ¡°Was he a Mask or something?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± Izzy considered before shaking her head. ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t think he used any powers when he ripped those Creeps apart but I might¡¯ve missed something with all of the blood.¡±


    ¡°Blood?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yeah, like he shoved his hand in one of the Creeps and ripped it apart and he tore another one¡¯s throat out with his teeth.¡± Izzy explained just a little too calmly.


    Getting a bad feeling she held a hand out to her brother. ¡°Uh, Tommy, can I see that uh, charm, talisman thing?¡±


    ¡°Uh, sure¡­¡± Tommy nodded, giving her his necklace.


    Accepting the necklace. ¡°Izzy, can you put this on for a second?¡±


    Izzy gave her a look before shrugging. ¡°Sure?¡±


    When Izzy put the necklace on there was a brief flash of light from it before- ¡°Was that supposed to do something?¡±


    ¡°Uh, it flashed green so according to the instructions that means she¡¯s clean.¡± Tommy told her, being the only one to figure out what she was worried about. ¡°It flashed blue for me, which meant residual but fading?¡±


    ¡°Okay, what was that about?¡± Izzy asked, taking the necklace off.


    ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s just you¡­ you were talking a bit calmly about watching something out of a horror movie.¡± She told her little sister while pointing to the horror movie, right as someone died on screen. ¡°I was worried he did something to your head to keep you calm.¡±


    ¡°What? No.¡± Izzy scoffed, looking amused. ¡°He wouldn¡¯t do something like that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to agree with you but uh, watching him spit someone¡¯s throat out makes me a little, uh, cautious sweetie¡­¡± Their father chuckled wryly, having pieced together what was going on. ¡°You uh, you mind explaining how you know that?¡±


    ¡°Because, he¡¯s just¡­ I mean look at him! He¡¯s harmless.¡± Izzy told them.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know killing Creeps is kind of the opposite of harmless.¡± Vi pointed out.


    ¡°Wha- I¡­¡± Izzy looked around in disbelief, before turning to their youngest sibling. ¡°Seamus was that guy from early scary? The one you gave the candy to.¡±


    Seamus frowned, putting far more thought into the answer than a toddler should before nodding with a smile. ¡°He was cool.¡±


    ¡°See, even Seamus could tell that he was harmless.¡± Izzy crossed her arms and nodded as if a toddler''s opinion proved her completely correct before grinning a little bit as she seemed to think about something. ¡°Heh, really was kind of cool¡­¡±


    She stared at her sister for a moment taking in the signs and in a stroke of maddening insight, she made the most horrific and mentally scarring revelation of the night. Beyond her social anxieties, beyond the Deviant attack she was forced to flee from, beyond the possibility of another one of her sibling¡¯s minds being tampered with, or even the Creep invasion and the risk to her family¡¯s lives, she realized¡­


    (Ah, Izzy has her first crush!)

 Turn 76: Mysteries, Secrets, And Tragedies

    <h4>Turn 76: Mysteries, Secrets, And Tragedies</h4>


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°So what did you two end up doing for Halloween?¡± She asked Ying and Aisha as they all sat down for lunch the following Monday. ¡°Anything fun?¡±


    ¡°No, just one of the usual holiday parties my mother puts on for every holiday.¡± Ying shrugged, her eyes flashing with a look of irritation. ¡°All in all it was just another evening of dealing with people wearing a mask all night¡­¡± The other teen grew a smirk. ¡°Though I suppose they were wearing two this evening.¡±


    Aisha gave Ying a concerned look before shaking her head. ¡°Um, my family didn¡¯t do much for Halloween with the curfew and everything¡­ Ommi, er, my mother thought about taking us to one of those police parties they do, but my, uh, father¡­ decided it wouldn¡¯t be a good idea.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but grimace as she remembered how her family¡¯s trip to the local station, the same one Aisha¡¯s family might have gone to. ¡°Yeah, that was¡­ that was probably a good call¡­ The, uh, the local station ended up having a Creep invasion.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Ying frowned as her eyes snapped over.


    ¡°Right, not sure if that made the news yet, but uh, the local station was overrun with Creeps. Um, none of the civilians were hurt, or at least no one in my family was, but I doubt that was a fun experience.¡±


    Yings scowl deepened as she pulled out her phone. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose either of you knows how many stations are in our city?¡±


    ¡°Uh, no.¡± She shook her head, not getting why Ying wanted to know.


    (Hmm, curious¡­)


    ¡°Are you¡­ you said no one in your family was hurt, r-right?¡± Aisha asked, recapturing her attention.


    ¡°Uh, yeah, no. Everyone is safe. In fact I wasn¡¯t even there when it happened.¡± She admitted.


    ¡°You weren¡¯t?¡± Aisha frowned, more in curiosity than whatever was going on with Ying.


    ¡°No, my uh, my older brother and sister took me to this party down by the trainyard.¡± She explained, before thinking about it and adding. ¡°It, uh, it wasn¡¯t my thing so we cut out early.¡±


    (Probably best not to worry her about the whole fire Deviant thing¡­)


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Aisha nodded looking relieved.


    (Yeah, no need to upset the card waifu over something that didn¡¯t happen.)


    ¡°Damn it, of course it was that station.¡± Ying cursed suddenly.


    ¡°Uh, everything okay, Ying?¡± She asked, a little wary of her usually calm friend¡¯s outburst.


    Ying blinked as if just remembering they were there before slipping on a smile and nodding as she stood from her seat. ¡°Yes, everything is perfectly fine. I simply need to make a phone call. I will be back in but a moment.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but frown as she watched Ying walk away. ¡°Okay¡­ That was weird¡­ right?¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown closer to Aisha and Ying.


    ---


    After everything that had happened over the previous night, it took her a fair bit of convincing to get her mam¨¢ to let her out of the house on her own, but eventually she managed to get permission to leave and take care of a few personal errands such as visiting the M.A.D. club to meet up with Kim.


    ¡°Hey, there¡¯s something I¡¯ve been meaning to ask you.¡± She admitted with little prelude.


    ¡°Hmm, what¡¯s up?¡± Kim blinked, one of her little critters in hand as it practiced several vocal exercises in a deep bass of a voice.


    ¡°I wanted to ask you what the um, policy is about inviting family to the club.¡± She explained. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure you told me, but I¡¯ve uh, I¡¯ve kind of forgotten what you said¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, uh, give me a sec.¡± Kim raised her hand and made a gesture to the little critter she was holding, who in turn nodded before hopping off of her hand and scurrying away. ¡°Okay, so as long as you¡¯ve been here for roughly sixty days you can bring over whomever you want, you¡¯ll just have to do some paperwork stuff with Carol at the front.¡±


    ¡°What kind of¡­ paperwork?¡± She grimaced as she followed the other teen out of the room, remembering all of the forms she had to fill out upon joining the club.


    ¡°Just standard liability stuff, like how you¡¯re responsible for any damages your guest causes..¡± Kim answered, before quickly adding. ¡°And how they acknowledge they cannot sue us if there¡¯s another robot uprising or something during their time here.¡±


    ¡°Robot uprising?¡± She repeated with a bit of wariness.


    Kim gave her a nervous chuckle. ¡°Heh, uh, yeah, um¡­ Oh, look, it''s Carol! Carol, we need your help getting some guest forms for Maya here!¡±


    The overworked blonde let out a sigh, before beginning to click things on her tablet.


    ¡°Uh, Kim, that didn¡¯t really answer my question about the robo-¡± Her mouth snapped shut as Carol glared at her and Kim both.


    ¡°We do not talk about the incident.¡± The older woman told them through grit teeth. ¡°Understand?¡±


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    ¡°Mm-hmm.¡± They both nodded.


    ¡°Very good.¡± Carol nodded back before looking at her tablet. ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re still a couple of weeks early from being able to bring guests but if you fill out the paperwork now, I¡¯m willing to allow you to start bringing them as of next weekend. So long as you only bring one guest at a time.¡±


    ¡°But I kind of wanted to bring both my¡­¡± She trailed off under the secretary¡¯s stern look.


    Carol tapped a few more things on her tablet. ¡°I¡¯ve added a single double ticket, but this does not include our typical tour package. Any guests you bring are not allowed to attend any shows or events our other members are putting on during the day of their visit.¡±


    ¡°R-right, that uh, that sounds good.¡± She accepted, not wanting to further irritate the older woman.


    ¡°Good, now follow along so we can sort this out. I¡¯ve many other things I need to get done before someone burns this place to the ground.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Starting Turn 80, Maya can invite people to the M.A.D. club.


    ---


    (You¡¯re stalling.)


    ¡°What? No I¡¯m not.¡± She scoffed, continuing to chip away at the mini-stealth packs she was making for her DMs.


    (Yeah, we¡¯re just getting the DMs ready for their assassin evolutions.)


    That made her pause. ¡°Uh, what?¡±


    (You know, when we rebuild the DMs for their Mk. 2 forms. We¡¯re going to have to focus them in one direction or another, so whatever upgrades we give them are going to tell us what those directions are!) Her inner madness explained as if this were obvious. (It is.)


    ¡°If life was a video game or something.¡± She mumbled with a shake of her head.


    (Poor naive Maya¡­)


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± She frowned.


    (Multiple things, but for the sake of the wall, I will point out that if you joined the Gamer¡¯s Guild life really would become a game.)


    ¡°At the price of possibly enslaving myself to the guild.¡± She reminded herself. ¡°Which I thought you were supposed to be against my inner paranoia?¡±


    (But Madness makes me all tingly on the inside!) Her inner idiot (Hey!) cheered before pausing for a moment. (Er, line? No, wait I remember! Ahem. Well, inside the inside anyway since I¡¯m already inside of your head.)


    She pinched the bridge of her nose, wondering if she should even begin trying to piece any of that insanity together.


    (I would suggest not.) Her inner logic warned. (That way lies Madness¡­)


    (Ooh, more tinglies!)


    ¡°What¡¯s it going to take for you two to shut up for five minutes so I can finish this upgrade for the DMs?¡± She asked herself, hoping to side step her growing migraine.


    (...)


    (...)


    (Will quit procrastinating?)


    ¡°I¡¯m not procrastinating!¡± She groaned.


    (Really, because the LCMs can easily finish up what¡¯s left of the stealth packs.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    ¡°What, no they-¡± She paused upon seeing her three little critter minions had in fact finished one of the stealth packs while she was distracted with herself. ¡°Okay, so they can¡­¡±


    (Meaning?)


    ¡°Fine¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Drone Minions upgraded to Mk. 1.2


    --Drone Minions can now use any Stealth Protocol() functions.


    ---


    Unable to stall any longer- (I was not stalling!) -she was forced to once more begin looking through the files and records of one Elizabeth Addams, a young woman who had passed away around her age, and was currently living in her basement.


    ¡°Right, okay¡­¡± She nodded to herself after a while of gathering what information she could from the internet. A feat that was notably more difficult given how Elizabeth had died before social media had hit it big and towards the end of the Rift Riots when a lot of records were¡­ sketchy at best. ¡°I think I¡¯ve got an idea of what happened¡­ or the broad strokes at least¡­¡±


    Unfortunately it wasn¡¯t much of a happy picture.


    ¡°From what I can tell Elizabeth¡¯s family lived here around twenty years ago but left around the time Elizabeth passed away. Not too surprising though the fact that when her family does eventually pop on social media they don¡¯t have anyone around her baby¡¯s age means this is a dead end on that front.¡± She had to admit, having hoped the baby had simply grown up with Elizabeth¡¯s family rather than wound up in the system.


    This lack of information is what had really forced her hand to finish reading the Deadwoman¡¯s hospital reports.


    ¡°She was admitted to the hospital due to claiming to know things she shouldn¡¯t, and a mix of audio visual hallucinations. Something that some of the doctors suspected of being a Deviancy, but hoped that due to its mental nature¡­ they could cure.¡± She grimaced, unable to help but imagine herself in Elizabeth¡¯s place given the whispers her own Deviancy left her with.


    (I really am lucky Iron Guardian made us all look sane¡­) She sighed before shaking her head and forcing herself to continue.


    ¡°Due to the fact that Deviants had only been public for a few years, they couldn¡¯t figure out what her Deviancy was¡­ Though I¡¯m guessing she was either a weak Psychic or¡­ an M.A.D¡­¡±


    Her fingers tapped against her work table, her mind blanking out for a moment the same way it had when she¡¯d first come to that possibility.


    ¡°Technically her family could¡¯ve kept her from being institutionalized, but when asked for permission to¡­ ¡®cure¡¯ her, her family gave it. I¡¯d want to give them the benefit of the doubt about them being worried about a Deviant with Asylum still fresh on everyone¡¯s mind, but the psychos who ran this place made a note about her parents being unable to cover a second scandal like they had the fact that Elizabeth was an unwed mother¡­¡± She may not have been alive in the nineties but she knew enough about how things used to be to know that was a big no-no, especially when at the time their state was a place of ¡®traditional¡¯ values.


    Which was another point of the local past that bothered her, given how double checking what those traditional values were had led to the discovery that her being bi would¡¯ve been illegal just a year prior to her birth. (At least it¡¯s a little better now¡­)


    Running a hand down her face, she had to once more force herself to continue. ¡°Between the fact that her mental conditions had led to her being expelled from the unwed mother¡¯s home her parents had sent her to, and the possible Deviancy her parents seemingly washed their hands of her with no future visits on record.¡±


    (Please tell me we¡¯re going to cyber-bully them into oblivion?) Her inner passion begged.


    ¡°We¡¯ll ruin their lives after we help fix Elizabeths.¡± She promised herself with no small amount of disgust. ¡°Alongside any doctors who worked at this hell hole, because with her parents¡¯ permission to remove her Deviancy, Elizabeth spent the last few years of her life being used as a guinea pig for the doctors. With her obedience ensured with the promise of seeing her daughter just so long as she remained a ¡®good girl¡¯.¡±


    ¡°A daughter the fucking doctors had lost, and had no idea where she was!¡± She yelled, throwing the wretched file off her table.


    Filling no small amount of rage she held her head in her hands as she tried to think of anything she could do to make this horrible wrong, right.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to find Elizabeth¡¯s daughter.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Gained (4D6 = 14 + Crit D6 = 5 =) 19 Intel towards Elizabeth investigation.


    --Current Progress: 64/100.

 Turn 77: Checking In And Going Out

    Turn 77: Checking In And Going Out


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°So¡­ care to tell me what was up with you yesterday?¡±


    ¡°Hmm? Whatever do you mean?¡± Ying asked curiously.


    ¡°That whole thing where you just got up and left when I mentioned my family being at the police station when it was invaded by Creeps.¡± She explained. ¡°I mean I hadn¡¯t even gotten to the part where my little brother was almost eaten by one.¡±


    (Oh, shit! It just hit me, Seamus was almost eaten by a Creep.) She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry as the world spun a bit.


    (Our baby!) Her maternal instincts screamed for her youngest sibling.


    (He¡¯s alive. Don¡¯t panic!) Her inner reason tried to calm her.


    (Izzy¡­ didn¡¯t say she was almost attacked to?!)


    ¡°Maya. Maya. Maya!¡±


    She blinked as Ying shook her and she realized how shallow her breathing had gotten for a minute.


    ¡°Breathe Maya. In and out. Slow and steady.¡± Ying told her, her own breathing slow.


    After a moment, with Ying¡¯s assistance, she was able to force herself to calm down.


    ¡°Better?¡± Her best friend asked with no small amount of concern.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± She nodded. ¡°Sorry, it just¡­ it just really hit me¡­ that Seamus and Izzy¡­¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Ying grimaced. ¡°Knowing someone you care about is in danger is¡­ unpleasant.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± She agreed.


    Ying looked around for a moment before sighing. ¡°I have a friend. Their mother is an officer. They were both going to one of those police stations for a Halloween Party, they even set up a haunted house while there.¡±


    ¡°Were they at the station the other night?¡± She frowned, understanding where Ying was going with this.


    ¡°They¡¯re both fine.¡± Ying assured her. ¡°They didn¡¯t run into anything resembling a threat to them. Not like with what your family went through.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± She nodded, because while she didn¡¯t know Ying¡¯s friend, she knew whoever they were was important enough to the other teen that she ran off to check on at the first hint of danger¡­ (unlike us who she ran away from.)


    (Shut up.) She told her inner insecurities.


    (We were right in front of her, but her friend was not. So of course she was more immediately concerned with the unknown quantity.) Her inner logic dismissed.


    (Still sounds like someone is more important than us¡­)


    Ying let out a sigh, drawing her attention back to (my friend). ¡°You said Seamus made it out of everything alright?¡±


    She ran a hand through her hair before nodding. ¡°Yeah. This guy -a mask or something I guess- ended up saving him before he could get hurt.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Ying nodded back sympathetically. ¡°I¡¯m sure he was quite terrified by the whole ordeal.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, uh, that¡¯s actually the weird part.¡± She couldn¡¯t help but frown as she thought back to her younger siblings¡¯ reactions. ¡°Seamus is like completely okay, no nightmares or nothing and the same with Izzy, despite both of them watching this guy rip the Creep¡¯s throat out with his fucking teeth.¡±


    Ying blinked. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ huh¡­¡±


    ¡°I know, right?¡± She agreed, glad someone else thought it was strange. ¡°I mean, Seamus and Izzy were right next to this guy covered in blood and they¡¯re both convinced he¡¯d never hurt them or some shit.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Ying frowned before gaining a smirk. ¡°Yes, now that I think about it, I don¡¯t think he¡¯d ever hurt them either.¡±


    ¡°You know, I know you¡¯re trying to mess with me, and it¡¯s not funny.¡± She glared.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s true. I cannot picture a single world where he¡¯d ever do anything to hurt them.¡± Ying continued, her face growing more amused. ¡°Absolutely nothing.¡±


    ¡°Again, not funny.¡± She told Ying as she started to walk away from the other girl.


    ¡°Oh, I think this whole thing is quite amusing when you look at it correctly.¡± Ying smiled, following after.


    ¡°And how exactly am I supposed to look at it?¡± She asked dryly.


    ¡°From my perspective.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to Ying


    ---


    Creeping down the stairs she found Tommy strumming on his guitar.


    ¡°Hey, uh, Tommy?¡± She called down.


    ¡°S¨ª, hermanita?¡± Tommy asked without looking up as his fingers moved along the instrument.


    ¡°Uh, I was wondering if you could give me a lift somewhere?¡± She answered.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Her brother shrugged as he set his guitar on its stand. ¡°Where do you need a lift to?¡±


    ¡°You remember the hospital Vi told you about?¡± She half grimaced, still not entirely sure how her brother was handling the whole M.A.D. thing.


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    ¡°The one where you¡¯re committing crimes against both nature and mankind, and will probably kick off the apocalypse?¡± Tommy checked, his grin only just reassuring her that he was joking rather than anything else.


    ¡°Uh, yeah¡­ that one.¡± She nodded.


    ¡°No problema.¡± Tommy nodded back as he stretched after sitting in his seat for however long he¡¯d been practicing. ¡°So how¡¯re you planning on taking over the world tonight?¡±


    ¡°Uh, I¡¯m not?¡± She frowned. (If anything I¡¯m planning on saving it.)


    (Wait, I thought we agreed that world domination was our back up plan?)


    (Only if the people in charge are too stupid to run it.)


    (Okay, cool so we¡¯re getting on that, what, next week then?)


    ¡°It pains me that you don¡¯t know what I was referencing there.¡± Tommy sighed, ruffling her hair as he passed her by.


    ¡°Oh.¡± (That was joke.) ¡°I¡¯m uh, I¡¯m guessing if you¡¯re making jokes then you¡¯re uh, you¡¯re okay with the whole¡­ Deviant thing?¡±


    ¡°Eh, it was a trip.¡± Tommy admitted. ¡°But I¡¯m rolling with it for now. After all, you¡¯re the same old Maya you¡¯ve always been regardless of what Deviant stuff you get up to.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± She smiled, before Tommy laughed at something. ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Oh, sorry. Had a funny thought.¡± Her hermano waved her off.


    ¡°And what was the funny thought?¡± She pressed.


    ¡°Eh, you wouldn¡¯t find it funny.¡± Tommy warned her as he held the front door open for her.


    ¡°Come on, try me.¡±


    ¡°I just imagined you as a Mask.¡± Tommy told her.


    ¡°A Mask?¡± She repeated, her heart briefly stopping as she wondered if he¡¯d figured her out before she frowned as she realized what he was saying. ¡°Wait, why would that be funny?¡±


    ¡°Really Maya? You get your butt kicked by Izzy -a middle schooler- like three times a week.¡± Tommy pointed out. ¡°You in a fight? You¡¯d be better off throwing one of your little minions out while shouting ¡®minion¡¯ I choose you.¡±


    (Oh, there¡¯s an idea.)


    (Don¡¯t encourage his ass!)


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair, Izzy is like a black belt or something.¡± She tried to defend herself.


    Tommy gave her a look. ¡°She¡¯s still a middle schooler who can kick your ass, hermanita.¡±


    ¡°Well, she could probably kick your ass too!¡± She reminded him.


    Instead of taking offense, Tommy merely nodded. ¡°Probably.¡±


    All she could do was glare at her older brother as they climbed into the car.


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re still an M.A.D. and that¡¯s pretty cool.¡± Tommy assured her. ¡°Just don¡¯t become a Mask or else everyone will end up kicking your butt.¡±


    ¡°Probably.¡± She (lied, filthy filthy lies) through grit teeth, when what she really wanted to say was, (You punk ass motherfucker I¡¯m going to kick your ass, bitch!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to Tommy.


    ---


    Once Tommy dropped her off and she was alone in her lab, she contemplated gathering her gear to try going out for a patrol, part of her feeling¡­ antsy after what happened at the trainyard as well as her brother¡¯s comments on her not being a Mask. Something underlined by Deckers words a few days prior. (I¡¯ll show them who¡¯s a real Mask!)


    (Yes, use the spite. Be a hero to spite them!)


    (I feel like spite is not the best motivation.)


    (Maybe not but it¡¯s the fun one!)


    Unfortunately, while getting her gear together she came to a bit of an unfortunate revelation in that with her slowly growing armory of gear she was going have trouble hauling everything between the different points around town. At least without either gathering far more attention than she wanted at this point in time, or asking for a ride from one of her sure to be curious siblings.


    This led her to the acknowledgement of the fact that she needed to do something to deal with her transportation issues.


    Which is why she went out and bought a relatively cheap bike from a sporting goods store before riding it back to the hospital. A feat that would¡¯ve winded her and left her useless for the rest of the day if not for all of the physical activity she¡¯d been putting herself through the last few months.


    (The training wheels helped too.)


    (It is¡­ ill omen that we still need those to ride a bike still¡­) Her inner reason dreaded.


    ¡°Well we won¡¯t need them if we take our bike off the ground.¡± She argued, taking various bits and pieces and wielding them onto her bike. ¡°I mean, we can easily set the bike to keep balance for us once we take it off the ground.¡±


    Her survival instincts let out a resigned sigh. (Fine. Just¡­ leave the wheels -both sets- on in case we run out of power for the gravity engine.)


    ¡°Yeah, probably a good idea to leave those until we figure out a better battery for this thing. Apparently, the Grav Engine is going to just eat power to keep the bike and everything on it a float.¡± She was having a bit of trouble figuring out what she was doing wrong with that equation.


    (You forgot the grav program only negates half of an object¡¯s mass and can only contain about a hundred kilos.) Her inner Madness helpfully explained.


    She blinked. ¡°Uh, what¡¯s that in American again?¡±


    (Roughly, two hundred and twenty point four six pounds.)


    ¡°Ah.¡± She nodded, looking over the bike she¡¯d outfitted with a number of compartments and a small gravity engine that was apparently nowhere near the actual strength necessary to give her a true hover bike. ¡°This feels like a distinct rip off now.¡±


    (Hmm, I suppose we could automate the chain and wheels a bit to make it a cheap motorbike since the hover component is shot at the moment.) Her inner reason tried to suggest.


    ¡°I know¡­¡± She groaned as she got back to work on a whole other problem. ¡°But I wanted a hover bike not a motor bike¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya now has the Tech Bike Mk.1. Allowing her to pursue enemies in vehicles and travel around town as a Mask without hitching a ride from anyone.


    --Bike¡¯s current weight limit does not allow for power armor but does allow for all of Maya¡¯s other gear.


    --Bike can be upgraded in number of ways. (Including flight. (Eventually¡­))


    ---


    ¡°Well¡­ I feel lame¡­¡± She sighed, riding around the warehouse district on her bike.


    (Ah, ah, our Tech Bike.) Her inner passion corrected her.


    ¡°It¡¯s not¡­ it¡¯s not really a tech bike yet.¡± She reminded herself. ¡°I mean I thought we were going to be riding around on a kick ass bike but this is¡­ this is embarrassing.¡±


    (Are you sure it¡¯s the bike and not the onlookers?) Her inner logic asked, shifting her attention to someone pointing a phone at her. (We never were one for the spotlight.)


    ¡°That¡¯s not¡­¡± She ran a hand through her hair before bringing her bike to a stop and looking at her COMP. ¡°Look, let''s just check the radar. There¡¯s got to be something going on around here.¡±


    Unfortunately for her attempt at distraction there weren¡¯t any crimes in progress.


    ¡°Oh, come on!¡± She groaned. ¡°I thought this was supposed to be one of the rougher neighborhoods or something? Where are all the criminals?¡±


    (Mmm¡­ Left and up.)


    ¡°What?¡± She frowned.


    (Look left and up.)


    She blinked before doing as her inner Madness suggested and spotting someone leaping off of a rooftop before using a construct of some kind to pull themselves to the next rooftop.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what I¡¯m looking for.¡± She grinned upon spotting the Deviant.


    (Ah, ah, before we jump the gun, are we sure that person is a criminal?) Her inner reason cut in before she could do something she¡¯d regret.


    ¡°Uh, no but¡­ they¡¯re running across the rooftops. They clearly have to be up to something!¡± She tried to argue.


    (Or they might not be.) Her inner logic pointed out. (So you have to decide how you want to handle this.)


    (Shoot them!)


    (...)


    (...)


    (What?)


    (We could do that¡­ or we could let them go since they don¡¯t seem to be doing anything wrong. Or if you¡¯re really paranoid we could follow them and see what they¡¯re up to.)


    She bit her lip for a moment, thinking it through before starting her bike up

 Patrol (3): Deviant Pursuit (1)- Location Discovered: ??? ????? ????? ??? (Warehouse District)

    Patrol (3): Deviant Pursuit (1)- Location Discovered: ??? ????? ????? ??? (Warehouse District)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Look we came this far we might as well see what she¡¯s up to.¡± She told herself as she followed the Deviant.


    A task that wasn¡¯t anywhere near as difficult as she¡¯d thought it¡¯d be given how the Deviant in question while using constructs to get around the rooftops wasn¡¯t really moving that fast given how they had to run across the rooftop before making their jumps at the ledge.


    (Okay, I¡¯m getting bored¡­) Her inner madness admitted after a few minutes. (I thought this was supposed to be like a high speed pursuit chase or something?)


    ¡°Look at it this way if they aren¡¯t moving fast then that means they aren¡¯t going to escape us and we can follow them to wherever they¡¯re going.¡± She tried to assure herself, even if it was meant more for¡­ her than her inner passion.


    (Nice save.)


    (Shut up.)


    (Anyway, what are we going to do if they aren¡¯t committing a crime though? They could just be taking a rooftop shortcut home.) Her inner pessimist groaned.


    (Well, given how we¡¯re heading further into the warehouse district rather than towards any residential area I believe we are following them towards something of interest.) Her inner logic pointed out.


    (Ugh, I still say shooting them would¡¯ve been more fun.) Her inner child pouted.


    (It also would¡¯ve picked a fight we needn¡¯t pick.)


    (That¡¯s the point. I want to pick a fight.) Her madness reminded her more reasonable self with a mental roll of the eyes.


    ¡°Both of you shut up for a second.¡± She told her other selves as she watched the Deviant grab onto the roof edge with one of their constructs before rappelling down to the ground. ¡°They¡¯re doing something.¡±


    Watching her target from down the street and using her Headset and COMP to keep track of them, she saw the Deviant walk up to the side entrance of a warehouse before pounding on it. After a few moments the door opened and let the person inside.


    ¡°Okay, so they went into a warehouse¡­ this looks interesting.¡± She had to admit, especially when her COMP¡¯s mapping program revealed a fair number of people inside of the warehouse, some of whom her programs flagged as hostile for having violent records. ¡°Very interesting.¡±


    (Perhaps but how are we supposed to get inside?) Her inner logic wondered.


    (Uh, the front door?) Her inner madness suggested as if it were obvious.


    (And if this happens to be a gang warehouse or some other such fight?) Her inner reason questioned.


    (Then we fight. Like I wanted.) Her inner simpleton -(Maya she¡¯s bullying me again!)- answered.


    ¡°Yeah, this would definitely be easier if we had some kind of intel of what this place was before we went in.¡± She agreed with her smarter self. (Uh, I¡¯m the smarter self.)


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    (Debatable since I figure out half our tech works!)


    (I keep us from doing stupid things.)


    (That we do anyway when we ignore you!)


    (...)


    (Wait¡­)


    (You aren¡¯t helping us there¡­)


    Shaking her head clear she looked at the door once more before bringing her bike up to it, close enough that it couldn¡¯t be seen by the slot in the door that she was sure for vetting anyone who came up to it.


    Since she didn¡¯t actually know what the warehouse was about she was hoping she could bluff them into opening the door or the security into telling her what was inside the warehouse so that she could have some idea of what was going on. If things went sideways then she could always speed off on her bike before they could get out the door.


    (This is a terrible idea¡­) Her inner survival instincts warned her. (Perhaps we should rethink our course of action.)


    (Didn¡¯t we just go over this!) Her inner madness growled. (You tell us something is a stupid idea and we ignore you!)


    (You two are going to get us killed¡­)


    ¡°Look we¡¯re not going to get killed, we just have to go in there and see what¡¯s up. And besides even if we do end up fighting we took on a whole pack of Bloodhounds by ourselves we can handle this.¡± She talked herself up in the hopes of building up a confidence she really wasn¡¯t feeling.


    (Speak for yourself we shall kicketh ass and taketh the name of the ass we have kicked after branding it with our shoe from how hard we kicked it! Note to self create our own brand of shoes for ass kicking purposes.)


    ¡°No¡­ that sounds stupid.¡± She told herself after a moment.


    (Yes, I have no intention of noting that idiocy down.)


    ¡°Eh, I don¡¯t know. If you¡¯re trying to hype yourself up,  it¡¯s not the worst pitch. Though I¡¯ve got to ask if you dealt with the Bloodwolf at the end or just the lesser Creeps? Because that¡¯s two different levels of street cred there.¡±


    She jumped upon hearing the voice and realized the eye slot of the door had been opened and a pair of obscured eyes were looking at her, their reflection the only thing visible through the slot.


    ¡°Um, uh, I uh, I dealt with the boss Creep and the uh, other Creeps.¡± She admitted, completely fumbling her composure as she was put on the spot. ¡°There was this Bleed just before Halloween and¡­ yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°I getcha, weeks before Halloween get crazy in this town.¡± The guard nodded in seeming understanding. ¡°Well, if you put up a fight there and liked it I can see why you¡¯d want to give the pits a try. Though I¡¯ve got to ask, given how I don¡¯t recognize your face, who told you about us?¡±


    ¡°Uh, Decker.¡± She lied, throwing out the first criminal name she could think of and hoping it wouldn¡¯t bite her later.


    ¡°Decker¡­ who?¡± The guard blinked causing her to grimace.


    Refusing to just roll over that easily however she instead doubled down. ¡°DJ Decker. From the Gamer¡¯s Guild? Likes music, wears these stupid shades even inside?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that guy.¡± The guard nodded. ¡°Usually if we get anyone sent by them it''s from that TPK girl, she¡¯s got this whole thing about making sure their guild keeps at least one of the monthly trophies.¡±


    (Trophies?) ¡°Yeah, no, I uh, I did him this solid while they were doing their dungeon thing and he told me about this place after they had to close down.¡± She explained, only half of her words being true as she started piecing together what this place was.


    ¡°I see¡­ are you an actual member of their guild or¡­?¡± The guard trailed off.


    ¡°I¡¯m independent.¡± She answered.


    ¡°Alright, well since we can¡¯t just check your stats and achievements to verify you¡¯re good enough to enter, we¡¯re going to have to give you a try out.¡± The guard warned her.


    ¡°Uh, what kind of try out?¡± She asked several thoughts flickering through her mind as her foot started to press down on her bike¡¯s throttle.


    ¡°Eh, nothing too dangerous if you''re serious about entering the pit.¡± The guard assured her. ¡°Just got to prove you¡¯re not wasting everyone¡¯s time by lasting five minutes with one of the guards, or if you¡¯d prefer we can see how long you can last in the Bloody Ballroom which is easier and harder depending on how you handle things.¡±


    (Well that is both ominous and¡­ familiar for some reason¡­.) She thought. (Still I¡¯m ninety-five percent sure I¡¯ve stumbled across a fight pit of some kind¡­ I¡¯ve just got to figure out what to do about it.)


    (The smart thing would be run.)


    (The fun thing would be fight.)


    ¡°Kid, I don¡¯t got all day, what¡¯ll it be?¡±

 First Bloody Ballroom (Introduction)

    First Bloody Ballroom (Introduction)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°I guess I¡¯ll do the Bloody Ballroom.¡± She answered the guard.


    ¡°Alright.¡± The figure seemingly nodded as the glint of their eyes bounced. ¡°Uh, you need help bringing your, what¡¯s it called, bike in or do you got it?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯ve got it?¡± She answered, pretty sure she didn¡¯t want anyone touching her bike even if she wasn¡¯t sure she could get it through the door on her own.


    ¡°Cool. Just let me open the door.¡± The guard told her before closing the eye hole as she heard what sounded like several locks being undone.


    (Are we sure this is a good idea?) Her inner survival instincts asked. (We¡¯re about to walk into a criminal stronghold.)


    (Well, they apparently think we¡¯re here because of Decker so unless they want to start a war with the guild I think we¡¯re safe for now.) She tried to assure herself silently in case the guard was still listening.


    (So our defense right now is a lie¡­) Her inner reason mentally grimaced.


    (Well we¡¯ve also got the dakka if we need it.) Her inner madness pointed out.


    She cut off her own response as the door swung open to reveal something that brought her up short.


    (It¡¯s rude to call people somethings.) Her inner passion reminded her, because despite the fact that the person in front of her was most definitely not human they were still a person. (Right.)


    ¡°What first time seeing an Inferni?¡± The man in front of her laughed.


    ¡°S-sorry.¡± She stuttered out.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, someone watching me in awe is far better than watching in fear.¡± The man assured her a clawed and tattooed hand wrapped around his angular jaw as he gave her a grin with very pointed canines. ¡°Still we should get moving if you don¡¯t want someone else to claim¡±


    ¡°R-right.¡± She nodded, as the man stood and she realized that he was not her height but instead had been half crouched on a set of digitigrade legs, with his real height being almost a full foot on her.


    Swallowing, she walked past him, just barely being able to get her bike through the door without any assistance.


    As the man locked the door behind them she glanced over her shoulder and found herself coming up short as she found a long tail shifting through the air behind him.


    ¡°Now with that taken care of, let¡¯s get you taken care of.¡± The man clapped two hands -larger than a human¡¯s now that she saw them up close- before moving to head deeper into the building.


    (They¡¯re not that big.) Her inner Madness told her as she moved to follow. (His muscles on the other hand¡­)


    It just now occurred to her that the man in front of her was shirtless save an open vest, one that gave her a solid view of his abs and pecks which regardless of his species were (interesting¡­)


    (Have we been lying to ourselves this whole time? Are we actually straight?)


    ¡°Got another one?¡± A woman¡¯s voice asked when they stepped through an open doorway to a much more open room.


    ¡°Ah, mon cherie!¡± The traveler smiled as he spotted a woman walking up to them.


    A woman who wore a sports bra that left a (very interesting) view of her own abs, as well as a number of tattooed rings going up and down her arms.


    (Have we been lying to ourselves this whole time? Are we actually gay?)


    ¡°Aye, and there a new one to the pits!¡± Her escort nodded, unaware of her internal crisis. ¡°Recommended by that one musician fella from the Gamer¡¯s Guild.¡±


    ¡°Meaning you¡¯ve got that power up all of them have?¡± The woman asked, giving her a once over. ¡°You lack the muscle for a warrior¡¯s build so I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re going mage?¡±


    ¡°Um, uh, um¡­¡± She swallowed for a number of reasons before finally being able to sputter out. ¡°I¡¯m trying for a, uh, mix?¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± The woman nodded, before turning to the man. ¡°Which entree test is she taking?¡±


    ¡°The Bloody Ballroom.¡± The man answered.


    ¡°Alright, well I¡¯m better at magi-tech than you so I¡¯ll run her courses. You take her bike to the vehicle pen.¡± The woman told the man.


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    ¡°On it, love.¡± The man agreed quickly picking up her tech bike and carrying it over his shoulder. ¡°Oh, but before I go.¡±


    The Traveler leaned forward and kissed the woman, before nuzzling her cheek and neck, something that brought them both extremely close as the woman smiled seemingly unaware of their spectator.


    (Okay. Whatever we are, we likey this.)


    (Yes, we do.) Her inner logic agreed as they stared at where the couple¡¯s abs touched.


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough of that you flirt.¡± The woman laughed pushing the man away.


    ¡°Ah, but that¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong, that will never be enough for me.¡± The man assured her, a huskiness to his voice that when combined with those contracted cats eyes and muscles-


    (Oh, ye- Wait, no¡­ that¡¯s a little much. No. Bad Maya!) Her reason chided. (We can see those thoughts chica! This place is filthy enough as it is!)


    (No it¡¯s not!) Her inner degenerate argued. (We need MORE FILTH!!!)


    She coughed into her hand, feeling more than a little heated by the things her mind was cooking up.


    The woman rolled her eyes with a smile before flicking the man¡¯s nose and sending him back a step. ¡°We¡¯ve an audience, one a little young for this.¡±


    ¡°Ah, right¡­¡± The man glanced at her before coughing. ¡°I¡¯ll uh, I¡¯ll just take this, uh, bike to the storage place.¡±


    ¡°You do that.¡± The woman smirked as the man fled with her tech bike.


    Once he was gone the woman turned to her. ¡°Come on, the Bloody Ballroom is over this way. You know how this works, right?¡±


    ¡°Um, I¡­ may have forgotten a couple things.¡± She admitted following the (hot, hot, hot) woman.


    ¡°Okay, so the Bloody Ballroom -as it was explained to me- is an Arcane Spell Engine that creates a hard light projection for the user to fight.¡±  The woman told her.


    ¡°Right, this is that¡­ sport thing a lot of Arcane do isn¡¯t it?¡± She asked, starting to remember what the Bloody Ballroom was despite her complete lack of interest in anything involving the Arcane. (Unless they have muscles like that.)


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s the one.¡± The woman nodded. ¡°Much more humane than Yggdrasil''s coliseum.¡±


    ¡°Uh, what¡¯s coliseum?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Ah, something from my homeland.¡± The woman grimaced before gesturing to the space around them. ¡°It¡¯s like all of this but¡­ worse.¡±


    She glanced around a bit and found that they were walking around a large pit in the ground filled with sand and two guys fighting with their fists.


    ¡°Right, this place is a fight pit¡­¡± She remembered, her reason for being here, cutting through her¡­ distracted state.


    (Boo! You¡¯re no fun!)


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you guys worried about a hero or something showing up?¡± She asked, hoping to fish some information out of the woman. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m sure you guys got a fair few fighters but with how easily¡­¡± She realized she didn¡¯t actually know anyone¡¯s names. ¡°He let me in, one could easily walk in here.¡±


    ¡°And why would that be a problem?¡± The woman in front of her wondered curiously.


    ¡°Uh, aren¡¯t fight pits illegal?¡± She pointed out, feeling a little silly in the fact that she had to do that.


    The woman seemed confused for a moment before snapping her fingers as she realized something. ¡°Ah, I know what you¡¯re talking about. Tru told me something about this, um, the local law is different from the rest of the¡­ kingdom? This is apparently one of the few territories, er, states to allow mutual combat as long as no one dies.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± She didn¡¯t actually know whether or not that was true, or if this Tru guy was someone just lying to the travelers but she also wasn¡¯t sure she was willing to jump the gun on this given how many things Decker had thrown her around with his own legal knowledge. (What was the point of reading all that legal stuff if it doesn¡¯t help when I need it?)


    (To make sure we can arrest people when we need to?) Her inner reason answered.


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She nodded, glancing around the room once more. ¡°So all of this is supposed to be legal?¡±


    The woman gave her a smirk (that made her feel things.) ¡°Aren¡¯t you a bit young to be wanting to break the law?¡±


    ¡°Uh, teenage rebellion?¡± She offered, getting a laugh out of the woman.


    ¡°Well, there are worse rebellions than a legal fight club.¡± The woman admitted before stopping in front of a large circle near the back of the warehouse. ¡°Alright, this is it.¡±


    The woman ran her hand above a much smaller circle just outside of but still connected to the bigger circle, causing a small blue screen to appear above it. ¡°So first I¡¯m going to need you to step into the circle to get a physical scan of you and your health.¡±


    She was a little iffy about that, but at the same time from what little she could remember of the few Bloody Ballrooms she¡¯d seen that was part of the standard process.


    (And as much as I don¡¯t like it, it would also be suspicious to back out this close to the end.) Her inner logic pointed out.


    Stepping into the larger circle, she stood there for a minute as the outer circle sparked before a round blue wall rose into the air marking the edge of her fighting area.


    ¡°And that¡­ should¡­ do it.¡± The woman told Maya as she messed about with the little airborne console. ¡°So just to remind you, this is an entry test for the club. The longer you last the better you¡¯ll do, but at the same time we want winners and people who can put on a show so don¡¯t just¡­ what¡¯s the phrase, ¡®turtle up¡¯?¡±


    ¡°That, uh, that shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡± She had enough in her arsenal that she was pretty sure she could handle whatever they threw at her.


    ¡°Good.¡± The woman nodded. ¡°So we¡¯ll do this in escalating rounds. You win five rounds you¡¯ll get to a¡­ boss stronger than the rest, while the following rounds will add an additional enemy for each boss you¡¯ve defeated. Since this is your first time, I¡¯ll be starting you as a beginner and we won¡¯t be bothering with the timer.¡±


    ¡°That sounds fair.¡± She admitted when it became clear the woman was waiting on her to respond.


    ¡°Mm-hmm, lastly the game will automatically end itself if you fall below a certain threshold determined by your scan, and should you wish to end it early you just need to touch the outer wall and count to ten. Can you repeat that back to me?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be kicked out if I take too much damage, and I can end it early by touching the wall.¡± She summarized.


    ¡°Alright, you ready to begin?¡± The woman asked.


    She took a deep breath before rolling her shoulders and nodding. ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do this.¡±

 First Bloody Ballroom

    First Bloody Ballroom


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°First wave coming up.¡± The woman called, as the ring around Maya flashed and a figure began to form out of light in the center of the ring.


    When the light faded she found herself in the ring with what looked like an red desiccated corpse, one that looked kind of familiar though she couldn¡¯t quite place from where.


    (It¡¯s a Husk.) Her inner logic told her. (It''s one of those creatures that invaded during the summer festival a couple of months ago.)


    (The ones we never fought?) Her inner passion asked.


    (Quite.)


    (Well then let¡¯s fix that shall we?)


    At first she contemplated simply blasting the thing with her hand cannons, but upon remembering that the Bloody Ballrooms she could recall always seemed like endurance runs of a sort, she instead pulled out her heavy weight and began walking towards the shambling corpse.


    One quick swing later and the Husk was dissipating into a swarm of lights that really did remind her of the various gamer guild constructs she¡¯d fought.


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± She frowned, having expected a bit more fight from the thing.


    ¡°We get a lot of people from the mundane pits or¡­ Tru called them ¡®colliege posas¡¯- Damn it, I know that didn¡¯t translate right.¡± The guard cursed. ¡°Anyway, we get a lot of people who think they can fight on a higher level than they really can. So we scare them off with something scary looking but ultimately harmless to anything other than a child.¡±


    ¡°Gotcha¡­¡± She nodded, thinking back to the day of the festival and how everyone had run from the Husks despite them being relatively passive and harmless now that she thought back on it. (Huh, I probably could¡¯ve taken them with just my hand cannons¡­)


    (It definitely would¡¯ve been an easier first blood than the Bloodhounds.)


    (Ooh, don¡¯t forget we wiped the floor with a bunch of Decker¡¯s minions before that.)


    (Yeah, but he was just playing with us.) She forced herself to admit after having run through the gamer guild¡¯s dungeon, something she was fairly certain a lieutenant would get further in than herself.


    The ring around her flashed once more as a ball of light began to form in the air, before coalescing into (a ball of colored light?)


    ¡°Uh, is your thing broken?¡± She asked, figuring that that would be just like ¡®magic¡¯ to break when someone tried to use it for something important.


    ¡°It¡¯s a will-o-wisp.¡± The woman explained. ¡°They¡¯re supposed to look like that.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± She nodded as the little ball of light began to drift towards her.


    She actually knew what a will-o-wisp was from her various games, though she hadn¡¯t recognized it in real life. If they were anything like the units Vi always spammed during their game sessions, then the little ball of light was a cheap swarm unit that while worthless on its own became a terror when you got enough of them together, given how they set fire to everything they touched.


    (Which just means I shouldn¡¯t let it touch me.) She figured raising a Hand Cannon and blasting the little light with a burst of Sound once it started to draw near.


    The orb went flying before smashing into the ring wall and breaking apart.


    (That was oddly cathartic.) She couldn¡¯t help but think as she recalled the numerous times Vi would harass her with will-o-wisps, burning down Maya¡¯s base infrastructure as her sister bought time to research her faction¡¯s various spells and enchantments.


    The ring flashed for a third time and this time the light formed a little green person with pointed ears that came up to her stomach while holding a little knife and wearing a pair of pants and a leather wrap around it (her(?)) chest.


    ¡°A¡­ female goblin?¡± She figured looking the thing over.


    ¡°Eh, two fold on this one¡­¡± The guard shrugged while making a so-so gesture. ¡°First is someone willing to hit a girl in the ring, and then Tru has an issue with ¡®uncivilized¡¯ goblins, so we use a lot of female ones to reassure him.¡±


    ¡°Uncivilized goblins?¡± She repeated, feeling a little upset by the way that was phrased.


    The woman grimaced. ¡°Trust me if you don¡¯t know, you don¡¯t want to know. They¡¯re not really a problem on earth and your Arcane make sure they don¡¯t become one.¡±


    Before she could say anything else on the matter the goblin was rushing her with the knife raised high, something that got the more instinctive than anything else response of her kicking the thing in the chest and punting it half way across the arena.


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    The little goblin began picking herself off the ground and Maya grabbed her heavy weight, the weapon dragging slightly on the ground as the anti-grav portion took a second to kick on. A second that led to her delivering an upswing to the goblin¡¯s jaw and breaking its neck as the construct broke into light.


    ¡°Hmm, not bad.¡± The older woman told her. ¡°Need to work on your swing a bit though.¡±


    She rolled her eyes, trying to remember what she was talking about a minute ago before the ring around her flashed for a fourth time and the light in front of her gathered into the shape of a person even smaller than the goblin, one that quickly grew little insect wings and antenna.


    (Ooh, is that a fairy?) Her inner child cooed at the little person as it flew up to her and watched her with a face that was somehow cute despite being a hybrid of human and insect features.


    She raised a hand to reach out to the little fairy and it immediately zapped her.


    ¡°Ow, you bitch.¡± She hissed, as the fairy blew a raspberry at her and started zipping around the ring.


    Readying her Hand Cannon she tried to aim at the little nuisance, only to give up after a moment when she realized it was moving too quickly for her to get a bead on it. So instead she waited for the fairy to come in for another attempt at zapping her, only to blast the fairy instead, shattering it before it could even hit the wall.


    ¡°Serves her right.¡± She huffed.


    ¡°Yeah, the will-o-wisp is usually the one to get newcomers, and warn them that any of these can be a threat. The fairy is usually more to see how people deal with a quickly moving target.¡± The guard told her before giving a huff of amusement. ¡°Z¡¯aum ends up chasing the things around the arena for an hour despite the fact that he can just blast them with a wave of his hand.¡±


    ¡°Right, so each of these is a test of some kind.¡± She nodded in understanding.


    ¡°Well, this is an entry test for a Deviant fight club.¡± The woman pointed out.


    (And that bit of narration reminds me¡­) ¡°Hey, I just realized you never told me your name.¡±


    The (hot) older woman considered this for a moment, before telling her, ¡°Hmm, how about you beat the first boss and I¡¯ll tell you my name. No point in it if you¡¯re not going to stick around here for long.¡±


    She narrowed her eyes, before accepting the challenge as the ring flashed for a fifth time, the light eventually gathering into the shape of a large blue wolf.


    (This is the first boss?) She scoffed, remembering Decker¡¯s significantly more impressive canines as she switched both of her Hand Cannons to electricity and fired twin bolts of lightning at the Wolf.


    ¡°Ooh, bad call.¡± She heard the woman grimace, as instead of shattering into light, the light began to gather around the Wolf as electricity crackled around its fur.


    The howled before crouching down and launching itself at her in an electrified mass of fangs, fur, and claws that she just barely avoided by throwing herself out of the way. An action that forced her to abandon her Heavy Weight as she thankfully avoided being torn apart by the wolf as it stumbled back from the wall.


    ¡°Right, okay, electricity is no buen.¡± She nodded, switching her Hand Cannons back to Sound.


    The wolf turned to her with a growl, electricity still crackling around it.


    (Probably, shouldn¡¯t get close to it either.) She grimaced, before raising her Hand Cannon and firing a burst of Sound.


    A burst that completely missed as the wolf ducked to the side in a sparking mass before rushing her once more.


    ¡°Shit.¡± She cursed, jumping out of the way and sprinting to give her a bit of breathing room as she turned back to the electrified beast.


    (Need something it can¡¯t dodge.) She told herself before shifting through her headset¡¯s UI as she pulled up her Burst() program and set it to Heat as she focused on the wolf in front of her.


    Red embers began to gather around the wolf, before it froze for a second and then dashed out of the way just as the space it had been standing ignited in a brief flash of flame.


    She growled, realizing that she couldn¡¯t hit the wolf at all as long as it could move this quickly. So once more she triggered her Burst() program as she focused on the beast, only this time instead of running [Heat] through the function she ran [Gravity].


    The wolf stumbled for a moment as it suddenly found its weight doubling.


    A moment she had no problem exploiting as she quickly fired off another Burst(Heat) at the wolf, gathering red embers in the air around it. Sensing what was about to happen to it, the wolf¡¯s electricity began sparking twice as brightly as it struggled against the increased gravity before the air ignited and the wolf caught fire in a miniature explosion.


    The beast howled in pain as it became consumed by the flame, completely unaware of the fact that she was once more aiming her Hand Cannon at it until it was blasted against the ring¡¯s wall in a wave of sound.


    For a moment she thought the wolf would get back up before it finally gave up and shattered into a swarm of blue lights, both the electricity and the fire quickly dissipating into the air at the lack of their source.


    Seeing that the threat was gone she couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh of relief. ¡°Fuck, that was a bit of a jump in difficulty don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°To be fair it was a boss.¡± The woman told her. ¡°Also Storm Wolfs aren¡¯t half as fast or intelligent as that normally, it¡¯s just since you used a lightning spell on it right out the gate¡­¡±


    ¡°It got a power up.¡± She figured with another sigh, not feeling up to explaining that she¡¯d used science not magic given how that would be a point against science if she admitted to it. (So I¡¯m just going to let magic take the fall on this one¡­)


    ¡°Pretty much.¡± The woman nodded. ¡°The way it was explained to me, the point of the first boss is to see how you react to a non-humanoid that is a legitimate threat, given how most humanoids are only used to fighting other humanoids.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ that makes a bit of sense.¡± She admitted, remembering the differences between her fights with her more beast-like opponents versus her more human-like ones. While she¡¯d still consider the human ones more dangerous with their traps and tactics, she was also fully aware that the beasts had a sort of ferocious nature that still made them a threat if in a much more obvious way.


    ¡°Also, my name is Anavi.¡± The guard told her.


    She blinked. ¡°Oh¡­ that¡¯s a nice name.¡±


    ¡°I think so too.¡± The woman -Anavi- smiled (so prettily). ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you¡¯re willing to share yours? Or are you doing that odd thing where your¡­ Masks keep their names to themselves.¡±


    ¡°Oh, um¡­¡± She swallowed, not sure how to answer.

 First Bloody Ballroom (Second Set)

    First Bloody Ballroom (Second Set)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°I¡¯m doing that¡­ Mask thing¡­¡± She admitted, feeling somewhat bashful in doing so.


    ¡°Mm, fair enough.¡± Anavi shrugged, as if the denial of a name didn¡¯t actually bother her. ¡°Though truthfully I¡¯ve never gotten the point of Masks and such.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ haven¡¯t?¡± She frowned. ¡°I thought it was pretty obvious with the whole ¡®people can come after your family¡¯ thing.¡±


    ¡°Oh, no I understand that.¡± Anavi assured her. ¡°It¡¯s just I¡¯ve never understood why everyone does it including your¡­ ¡®heroes¡¯, back home people with power were pretty obviously marked as such.¡±


    That made her curious. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°My Mystic¡¯s Markings.¡± Anavi explained, gesturing to the dozen or so black bands on her arms. ¡°Each band is a spell I¡¯ve mastered to the point of using as much as I please as far as my people are concerned, allowing me to cast the spell as much as I wish.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± (She¡¯s a magic user¡­) ¡°That¡¯s¡­ cool?¡±


    (And all attraction is lost.) Her inner logic noted.


    (Eh, I wouldn¡¯t say that.) Her inner passion argued. (If we ignore the crazy for believing in magic she is still physically hot, hot, hot.)


    (And given how we¡¯re arguably insane ourselves¡­)


    (Exactly.)


    ¡°Ah, you¡¯ve heard about the practice¡­¡± Anavi grimaced. ¡°I¡¯ll admit, looking back the practice is a bit¡­ barbaric.¡± The older woman ran a finger over one of the higher bands with a fond expression. ¡°Though Zaum says he doesn¡¯t hold it against me, even volunteers to make me more¡­¡±


    She¡­ wasn¡¯t entirely sure how to respond to that, given how she didn¡¯t actually know what the deal with the bands were.


    Eventually Anavi realized she¡¯d gone silent before shaking her head and coughing into her fist with an obvious amount of embarrassment. ¡°Sorry about that, I¡¯ll uh, I¡¯ll get the next round going if you¡¯re ready.¡±


    ¡°Uh,¡± she checked her COMP and found that she was still at about half power before nodding, ¡°yeah, yeah. I am.¡±


    Anavi messed with something on her ¡®magical¡¯ -(Ooh, I can just feel that derision.)- console before the ring around Maya flashed and two swarms of light began to form in the center of the ring.


    When the light show faded standing in front of her were two goblins -one male and one female based on their clothing- each holding their own little knife.


    Rather than waiting for the two to rush her with their knives she raised both of her hand cannons and blasted each of them with a burst of Sound, sending them flying and rolling across the dirt.


    Quickly reclaiming her -mildly forgotten- Heavy Weight she rushed towards the downed goblins before reducing her weapon¡¯s gravity just long enough to raise it into the air. At which point she let the Heavy Weight fall upon the goblin¡¯s head with the weapon¡¯s full weight as she let its true weight return.


    With one goblin dissipating into light she turned to the other one as it picked itself off the ground and snarled at her.


    Knowing that even with a lower weight she couldn¡¯t maneuver her cumbersome weapon into the proper position, she instead simply raised one of her Hand Cannons and once more blasted the construct with a burst of sound. One that caused it to slam into the hard light wall of the ring¡¯s boundary, seemingly with enough force to shatter the goblin.


    ¡°Hmm, so you¡¯re not completely new to fighting.¡± Anavi noted from the sideline.


    ¡°Uh, no, no, I¡¯m not.¡± She agreed, not sure if she should be offended given how on the one hand that seemed like an insult but on the other Anavi was a guard for a fight club, (meaning she¡¯s probably seen enough fighters to see we haven¡¯t been doing this long.)


    ¡°Good, because most of this set revolves around dealing with two enemies at once.¡± Anavi warned her. ¡°Most people end up letting themselves get overwhelmed when honestly these constructs are fairly low level in comparison to the real things.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She wondered.


    ¡°From my understanding the Bloody Ballroom has a¡­ scaling parameter you can set to decrease or increase the power of the various constructs it makes. Something far more apparent when you go against the scanned construct of a named figure rather than simple generic scans such as these.¡± Anavi explained.


    ¡°Does that mean you¡¯re going easy on me?¡± She couldn¡¯t help but frown at the idea of being looked down on.


    ¡°Mm, not quite¡­ I actually don¡¯t know how the adjustment system works, so I simply leave it at the stored default that Tru had all of the Ballroom¡¯s set to when he had them installed.¡± Anavi admitted with a shrug. ¡°All I know is that the creatures you¡¯ve fought thus far are slightly below the average of the variations of the species I¡¯ve seen. Though that might be more due to Yggdrasil having more dangerous Anima levels in its surroundings than the local areas.¡±


    ¡°So it might just be that your homeland is more dangerous than ours?¡± She summarized, having more or less put together, that the older woman was a Traveler from the same place as the non-human from earlier.


    ¡°Given how your city isn¡¯t surrounded by an armed and patrolled defensive wall, I¡¯d assume so.¡± Anavi nodded.


    ¡°Right¡­¡± (So she¡¯s from a fantasy hell world?)


    (It¡¯s possible it¡¯s less a hell world and more a medieval world where everyone is constantly at war.) Her inner logic pointed out.


    (Ooh, but probably with dragons!) Her inner madness added in an awed tone. (Actually, thinking about it how hard do you think it would be for us to make a dragon?)


    (Well, we¡¯d likely need a bigger bio-pod as well as a little more experience using them.)


    (So what like level five biology?)


    (To begin at the very least.)


    Before she could chime in on her other-selves conversation the walls of light flashed as two more figures began to take shape in the center of the ring.


    Unlike the previous two which were a pair of humanoids, this time the light solidified itself into a pair of (thankfully mundane looking) hounds, if with something clearly wrong with them given the patches of missing fur all over their bodies.


    (Alright, this is just like with Decker¡¯s wolves.) She told herself, reloading both of her Hand Cannons. Something that may¡¯ve been a waste of power given her remaining rounds but after her fight with the less mundane Storm Wolf she felt it was better to be safe than sorry with what she was sure would be a pair of hard to hit enemies.


    The hounds shook themselves out as whatever programming the Bloody Ballroom gave them took over, before they both turned towards her with a pair of dead white eyes she was pretty sure most canines didn¡¯t have.


    As their dead eyes locked onto her they each growled in a mix of hunger and malice before slowly splitting in separate directions as they circled her, one going right and the other left, her eyes quickly darting between them.


    She flexed her hands, waiting, knowing that the moment she acted so would they.


    With her back near a wall the two hounds could only circle her so far before coming up against the Ballroom¡¯s ring of light, which is why as soon as the two neared said wall she raised both of her Hand Cannons figuring by her will or theirs they¡¯d be rushing her soon enough.


    The two wolves turned towards her, intent on taking her down in a pincer attack as they both rushed her, or that was their intent prior to her blasting them both with a wave of sound once they were close enough.


    Unlike Decker¡¯s wolves from months prior, this wasn¡¯t enough to shatter the two Arcane Constructs, which is why she took her Heavy Weight and rushed the one on her left before smashing it in what was quickly becoming her go to tactic with the weapon.


    While she was busy with this the second wolf was able to pick itself up from where she¡¯d blasted it before rushing her as its packmate shattered into a swarm of lights.


    Gripping her Heavy Weight she slid her foot back before picking the weapon up in a wide sweeping swing that would hit anything that came close to her. More specifically the hound as it proved unable to change direction mid sprint, leaving it open for her Heavy Weight to crack against its ribcage in a blow that sent the beast tumbling away even as she found herself stumbling under her weapon¡¯s momentum.


    (Really need to start accounting for the follow-through at some point.)


    Once her weapon was back under her control she turned to the downed beast as it struggled to rise back up to its feet. A state that left her free to finish it off in much the same way she had its packmate as she ran forward, her heavy weight dragging against the ground before letting it impact the construct in a form shattering golfer¡¯s swing to its face.


    With the sudden disappearance of her target the remaining momentum of her swing sent her stumbling forward as she tried to get it back under control.


    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± She gasped, as she finally got the weapon to simply fall to the ground rather than trying to escape her grasp.


    ¡°Yeah, the sudden disappearance takes some getting used to.¡± Anavi commented from the side with a soft laugh. ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s the reason I just can¡¯t get into this thing myself despite how much you locals seem to love it.¡±


    ¡°This thing, uh, this thing gets a lot of mileage then?¡± She found herself asking as she worked on catching her breath before the next round could start.


    (Honestly, starting to get a bit thirsty¡­) She realized, rubbing at her throat. (Need to look into packing a water bottle or something when I go out¡­)


    (Ooh, we can fill it with chemical concoctions to buff ourself up!) Her inner Madness clapped with glee.


    (Perhaps untested drugs aren¡¯t the best thing to be using on ourselves¡­) Her survival instincts cautioned.


    (Eh, it¡¯s something worth considering if we ever get that medical stuff going.) She figured, before turning her attention back to a talking Anavi.


    ¡°-even your local ¡®Heroes¡¯ stop by on occasion.¡± Anavi finished, having answered her question while she was distracted.


    ¡°Uh, really?¡± She said, more because she¡¯d missed everything the older woman had told her.


    ¡°Yes, though only one of them is on this pit¡¯s level.¡± Anavi told her. ¡°The rest are considered ¡®too strong¡¯ for this beginner¡¯s pit, even if the one with the cards comes here a lot.¡±


    ¡°One with the cards?¡± She repeated, before her eyes went wide. ¡°Puck comes here?¡±


    As something of a Mask nerd, she knew all of the local Masks -(the heroes anyway)- and while he stood on the more ¡®magical¡¯ side of things, the most infamous card user she knew was Puck, the Card Caster. A Deviant hero for more than a decade, he¡¯d become the city¡¯s iconically roguish hero and one time crush of pretty much every teen girl in the city. (Except for the ones who realize he¡¯s a filthy magic user anyway.)


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    (Too bad Vi never realized it, I think she still has a poster of him on her wall.)


    (Hopefully Izzy will rise above it.)


    ¡°Yeah, supposedly it¡¯s to keep an eye on any up and coming Deviants in the city.¡± Anavi shrugged, unaware of her musings. ¡°A threat mitigation of sorts, I believe.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ makes sense.¡±


    If the fight pits were legal, and at the same time a popular place for people and Deviants to pass through, then it would also serve as a place for gathering intel on the cities up and coming Deviants. (Meaning if we participate in the tournament and do well, we might end up on the heroes¡¯ watch list.)


    (Definitely something to keep an eye on.) Her inner logic agreed.


    ¡°Like I said, he¡¯s not the only one who comes through here either, though I feel it¡¯d be unfair of me to tell you which one will be in the upcoming tournament.¡± Anavi told her.


    (So change that might to a definitely¡­)


    ¡°Uh, can you at least tell me how I¡¯m doing in comparison to them?¡± She asked, figuring if she really did go through with the tournament that was something she definitely wanted to know.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say, you and they fight fairly differently.¡± Anavi answered hesitantly. ¡°But if I had to guess I¡¯d say you''re slightly below them, though you could probably put up a decent fight against them based on what I¡¯ve seen.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ that¡¯s fair.¡± She admitted reluctantly, after all while she¡¯d only been working at becoming a Mask for the last few months most of the Jr. Heroes had been active for at least a couple of years. (Even the one Izzy¡¯s age has been a Mask since she was eight¡­)


    ¡°Well, the fact that you can admit that without getting mad is a good thing.¡± Anavi assured her. ¡°After all, you can¡¯t improve unless you see someone to defeat.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right.¡± She nodded, her mind drifting more towards Decker than anyone else given how -(despite how annoying he is)- he was the strongest person she knew personally.


    (Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll kick his ass eventually.) Her inner Madness promised.


    With that thought affirmed she turned back to Anavi. ¡°Load up the next round.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Anavi agreed, tapping away at her console and causing the wall of light to flash once more as it started loading in the next pair of monsters for her to fight.


    Only instead of two creatures she found herself standing in front of a single human looking figure.


    ¡°I thought I was supposed to fight a pair each round for the second set?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°There¡¯s a trick to it.¡± Anavi called having heard her.


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± (Then what¡¯s the trick?) She wondered, narrowing her eyes at the man as he held his hands in front of his chest as a small orb began to form between his hands.


    Not willing to let the man finish whatever it was he was working on, she switched one of her Hand Cannons to Electricity and fired a bolt at him.


    The man spread his hands and the orb expanded around him forming a dome of light that took the bolt of electricity on and dissipated it into a handful of sparks across its surface as the man formed a second orb between his hands.


    ¡°Uh, this one isn¡¯t just going to turtle underneath a shield the whole time is it?¡± She had to ask, especially given how she was working with a limited amount of power and didn¡¯t feel like wasting too much of it. (Actually, I wonder¡­)


    She started adjusting her Headset¡¯s UI as Anavi once more told her, ¡°There¡¯s a trick to it.¡± sounding much more amused this time.


    ¡°Uh-huh, wonder if this trick will work?¡± She countered before firing off a Burst() of fire where the man was standing.


    The construct began to panic as its clothes caught fire and it quickly forgot whatever it was working on before shattering into a swarm of lights just as quickly.


    ¡°Well, that was anticlimactic.¡± She couldn¡¯t help but comment as she watched the light fade.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ the uh, the construct was supposed to shield itself and then summon another creature.¡± Anavi told her, looking more than a little surprised. ¡°It¡¯s supposed to get you used to Arcane summoning minions in the middle of the fight which is allowed by our rules, even if only really seen at higher levels.¡±


    ¡°So I¡¯m guessing I wasn¡¯t supposed to be able to attack it from within its own shield?¡± She filled in realizing why the fight was so easy. ¡°The summon was supposed to be a surprise attack while the summoner had a glass jaw but shielded the minion until I beat him. That was the trick.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Anavi nodded, seeming to shake off her (awe, it was awe because we are awesome). ¡°That shield spell specifically disrupts anything in a sphere, meaning the only way to attack it would be from inside its shield. Something most people cannot do given how they¡¯d be limited to the energy within the shield which the construct was already manipulating.¡±


    ¡°Huh, neat.¡± (Burst() ignores external shields.) She¡¯d been fifty-fifty on if that was the case.


    ¡°Right¡­ so I¡¯m assuming with how easy that fight was you¡¯re ready for the next one?¡± Anavi asked, tapping something on the console.


    ¡°Yep.¡± She smiled, feeling fairly good about herself.


    The wall of light flashed and went through the usual light show as it began the fourth round by bringing in her two artificial opponents. The first was a four legged creature that looked like another one of the hounds from a couple rounds prior mangy matted fur and all. While the other looked like a man similar to her previous round though in this case with something very clearly wrong with the construct as he scratched at his pale leathery skin.


    Of course what really made this duo so dangerous wasn¡¯t what they were so much as the fact that the man was holding a rifle. (Right¡­ so since I don¡¯t want to get shot we¡¯re going to deal with that first.)


    She raised her hand cannon before firing a bolt of electricity at the sickly man, forcing him to twitch and spasm as small sparks danced across his body. A state she was happy to maintain by firing a second bolt as soon as the first ended.


    Unfortunately, her focus on the rifleman meant she just barely noticed as the mangy hound rushed her going wide from her sparking Hand Cannon before lunging at her with a maw full of fangs.


    Raising her arm more on reflex than intent, she managed to keep the beast from tackling her to the ground as it instead bit into her armored bracers, and she swung it around to keep herself standing. Despite the fact that her bracers were taking the majority of the snarling beast¡¯s teeth on the metal of her armor, the fact that it had clamped her arm between its teeth meant she was largely pinned in place until she could get the beast to let her go.


    Which is why she placed her other reloading hand cannon next to the beast¡¯s skull and unleashed a freshly loaded bolt of electricity point blank into its head. A critical strike that forced the beast to shatter into a swarm of light as she killed it off.


    Before she could bring herself to celebrate this little victory a gunshot blasted through the air, something she only tangentially noticed as she felt an impact hit her chest hard enough to make her feel it even through the metal plating protecting her.


    She turned back to the man as he fumbled with reloading his old hunting rifle before raising her freshly reloaded Hand Cannon at him and shattering him with a blast of lighting to the face.


    ¡°Fuck, that stings¡­¡± She hissed rubbing at the faint dent in her armor, less because it would help her with the bruising tissue underneath and more out of habit.


    ¡°Yeah, don¡¯t care much for firearms myself.¡± Anavi agreed. ¡°What¡¯s worse, they''re significantly more common here than they were back home and a lot more dangerous as well.¡±


    ¡°Well, at least I know my armor can tank a bullet¡­ though I¡¯m a little worried that you guys used an actual gun during this ¡®game¡¯.¡± She admitted, feeling just a little more timid about what the upper levels might bring.


    ¡°They¡¯re not actual guns.¡± Anavi assured her. ¡°From what I¡¯ve been told, while they look like actual bullets, unless you remove the Ballroom¡¯s safety features the actual -what was it¡­ bullet is the word- disappears on impact making it like a blunted arrow.¡±


    ¡°Not sure if that¡¯s better or worse for my armor¡­¡± She grimaced, feeling like she might want to upgrade it a bit more. (Or the power armor, if I fix the power issues on that I should be good.)


    ¡°Yeah, I can understand that.¡± Anavi nodded, before looking at her console. ¡°At the very least all you have left for this set is the boss.¡±


    She glanced down at the stat bars on her Headset¡¯s UI, taking in the fact that she still had five units of power left though she was sitting at just above half health with twelve HP. While she had plenty of power to fight the boss, (I¡¯m definitely starting to feel that lack of eight HP.)


    ¡°Uh, out of curiosity what would happen if I were to tap out before defeating a Boss?¡± She asked the older woman, not entirely feeling like breaking herself on a ¡®challenge¡¯ if she didn¡¯t have to.


    (Yes! Sanity prevails for once!)


    (Boo! You suck!)


    ¡°Well, it would reset your progress to your last Boss, the Storm Wolf.¡± Anavi frowned, unaware of the commentary. ¡°Which means as far as the qualifiers go, that would be the marker for your progress. Why?¡±


    ¡°Nah, just starting to feel all of this and my COMP is starting to run low on power.¡± She tried to explain, holding the little device up and gesturing to the dent in her armor. ¡°How tough would you say the next boss is?¡±


    Anavi considered the question for a moment before shrugging. ¡°It¡¯s a scan of one of your local warriors, an Orkin the locals call Andre. He ended up losing a bet with Grit and now a weaker version of him is the second set¡¯s boss. Though if you lose to him your assessment will count as winning nine rounds since Tru has this whole love for people with grit.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Beyond her placing that all meant next to nothing to her.


    (No, wait. I remember what an Orkin is¡­ sort of.)


    If her video games could be trusted, -(And of course they can.)- Orkin were a sort of larger Bruiser type of unit that a lot of Arcane units tended to summon as muscle to make up for the fact that they themselves were often depicted as glass cannons.


    (Which is why you invest in stealth tech early to assassinate them and dismiss their sub-units quickly.) Her inner logic reminded her.


    (Yeah, that doesn¡¯t really help if the Orkin in question doesn¡¯t have a summoner.) She pointed out to herself, really wishing she actually could just use her stealth pack for a quick win.


    ¡°So were you going to tap out or did you want to continue?¡± Anavi asked her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go ahead and fight him then see where I¡¯m at.¡± She answered, rolling her shoulders out as she got ready for the next fight.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Anavi nodded as the ring of light flashed and a large figure began to form in the center.


    When the light cleared she found herself facing a massive bipedal at least eight feet tall with elephant like feet, a brownish yellow sort of leather like skin, and a round head with a flat nose wearing a large hoodie over an equally large t-shirt and jeans.


    (You know on the screen Orkin a lot smaller¡­) She had to admit as she stared up at the figure looking down on her.


    ¡°Heh, ain¡¯t you a little thing.¡± The construct chuckled, making her wonder just how in depth the scans really were.


    ¡°These things can tal-¡± She was forced to dodge to the side as the massive Orkin rushed her with significantly more speed than she thought something of that size capable of, punching through the space she¡¯d been with enough force for her to feel the wind behind it.


    The Orkin, Andre followed up this crushing blow with a backhand in the direction she¡¯d dodged, forcing her to take another stumbling step to avoid the blow. Unfortunately, this second step proved one too many as she ended up slipping and falling on her backside.


    ¡°Really was hopin¡¯ for more of a fight.¡± Andre told her before raising one of his massive feet into the air to stomp her.


    Reacting more on panicked reflex than anything else she raised both of her Hand Cannons and fired them at the Orkin, unleashing two massive bursts of both sound and electricity upon him. And while the dual blasts were enough to force him to lower his foot and take a step back, it looked as if they did little damage beyond that as the Orkin smirked down at her.


    ¡°Not a bad hit kid, but you¡¯re going to need a little more force to get past the ol¡¯ Orkin hide.¡± Andre told her, tapping his bandaged knuckles against his shoulder.


    Her response was to unleash another dual burst of force and lightning, sending her Hand Cannons into a reload and buying her the time to scramble back onto her feet.


    (Okay, need to hit him and need to hit him hard.) She swallowed backing away from the Orkin as she tried to figure out what to do.


    Something Andre apparently wasn¡¯t willing to wait for as he once more rushed her with a heavy swing that she somehow managed to duck underneath before following the tried and true method of dealing with giant enemies in any video game.


    ¡°Wha- I, come on will you just- Quit running in circles!¡± Andre shouted as she continued to circle behind him while the large Orkin tried to turn to face her, his species clearly not built for the agility necessary for such quick turns. ¡°Okay, fuck this.¡±


    A massive foot slammed into her as rather than trying to turn to face her Andre simply kicked backwards, something that -if she were less concussed and could think about it- she wouldn¡¯t believe him physically capable of with his build, at least not without stumbling. Something he didn¡¯t do as she was sent flying almost a full meter back from a blow that she was sure would¡¯ve cracked something if not for her armor.


    ¡°Fu~uck¡­¡± She groaned, her eyes just barely noting how that single blow had taken out a third of her remaining HP. (Okay¡­ can¡¯t take¡­ another¡­ hit¡­)


    Sitting up she glared at the Orkin casually walking towards her, as she began shifting through her COMP¡¯s various menus on her headset.


    ¡°Ya know, I was really hopin¡¯ for a proper fight not this kiddie shit.¡± Andre told her with a glare. ¡°So either give me a fight or get stomped.¡±


    ¡°How about this then?¡± She growled, triggering a Burst(Gravity) and doubling the Orkin¡¯s weight causing him to stumble even if he remained standing.


    ¡°Not bad, but you magic types should know how to throw something stronger than¡­ whateva this is.¡± Andre shrugged, more successfully resisting her Gravity¡¯s effect than the Storm Wolf from earlier.


    (At least he¡¯s slowed down some.) She figured, once more forcing herself onto her feet before making her way a safe distance from the Orkin as she pulled something special from her pockets. (Wonder how many of these it¡¯ll take to put him down? You know what, let¡¯s go with all of it just to be safe.)


    Turning back to the Orkin as he slowly did the same to her she began throwing several makeshift bundles of scrap and chemicals at the Orkin¡¯s feet.


    ¡°What are these supposed to do?¡± Andre frowned, looking down with little concern.


    ¡°Go boom.¡± She answered, arming all of her explosives at once.


    ¡°Oh.¡± The Orkin blinked. ¡°Shit.¡±


    A massive explosion rippled out from where the Orkin stood, sending a wave of heat and force strong enough to blast her off her feet from several meters away.


    ¡°May¡¯ve gone a little overboard there¡­¡± She admitted as she laid on the ground, waiting for everything to quit aching.

 First Bloody Ballroom (End)

    First Bloody Ballroom (End)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°You still alive?¡± Anavi called with only mild concern.


    She raised her hand and waved. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m still alive. Just need to catch my breath.¡±


    ¡°Just so you know there¡¯s a rule against using raw explosives in the arena.¡± Anavi told her. ¡°Since there¡¯s no Deviant energy to disrupt the ring¡¯s safe guards have more trouble dampening them in case of emergency.¡±


    She sat up. ¡°Right, uh, dumb that down for me?¡± She wasn¡¯t feeling like using too much of brian power right now.


    (Everything¡¯s achy!) Her inner child whined.


    ¡°While it doesn¡¯t disqualify you in the Ballroom, you can¡¯t bring bombs into the official tournaments.¡± Anavi elaborated walking up to her, before crouching on the ground. ¡°Look this way for a second.¡±


    She did and watched as the older woman made a light appear just above her fingertip.


    ¡°Follow this for a moment.¡± Anavi told her, likely checking for a concussion as Maya followed the light with her eyes. ¡°Alright, doesn¡¯t look too bad but you might still want to check in with a healer.¡±


    She found herself frowning. ¡°Is that going to cost money?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Anavi nodded as she stood back up and offered Maya a hand. ¡°Though it¡¯s not much.¡±


    ¡°Not much can mean different things depending on how broke you are.¡± She pointed out as she accepted the help to her feet. ¡°And I be broke.¡±


    ¡°True¡­¡± Anavi admitted, seemingly considering it. ¡°Is fifty dollas a lot for you?¡±


    ¡°For me? Yes.¡± She grimaced. ¡°For a doctor¡¯s visit though, that¡¯s cheap.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Anavi frowned, before waving her hand and causing a golden light to flash over Maya. ¡°Well, you¡¯ve nothing too severe at least¡­ just some bruising that¡¯ll last a week or two.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ good?¡± She thought, not actually understanding or wanting to understand the older woman¡¯s ¡®magic¡¯. Though that did little to keep her grimacing as she moved, feeling a soreness all over as her adrenaline started to wear off. ¡°Still might be enough to make me finish that medical bay¡­¡±


    Anavi hmm¡¯ed rather than say anything else.


    ¡°So, uh, how¡¯d I do?¡± She found herself asking, figuring that if the older woman had stepped into the ring that meant she¡¯d called it herself.


    ¡°Mmm, well you could¡¯ve done a lot worse.¡± Anavi admitted, giving her a less than good feeling about her results. ¡°That said, you did do well enough to be allowed to come and go from the club. Though I won¡¯t be telling you where any of the more difficult clubs are.¡±


    ¡°Right, okay¡­¡± She nodded, her mind underlining that ¡®go¡¯ in come and go, before she remembered something. ¡°I think you mentioned something about a tournament?¡±


    Anavi ran a hand through her hair. ¡°Right that¡­ Well if you want I can enter you in the next one a couple weeks from now, but I¡¯ll go ahead and warn you there¡¯s no guarantee you¡¯ll win it. Depending on who you¡¯re up against you¡¯ll probably make it to the second round but not much further than that based on what I¡¯ve seen here.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± She frowned. ¡°And what do you think I need to work on to go further than that?¡±


    ¡°Well, like I said, that''s a tough one since it varies person to person.¡± Anavi told her. ¡°I can tell you¡¯re used to fighting, but at the same time I can also tell you¡¯re self-taught and fairly new to Deviant combat.¡±


    ¡°Meaning?¡± She prodded, hoping to get a bit more than that.


    ¡°It¡¯s largely an experience gap.¡± Anavi shrugged. ¡°You¡¯ve got a few cool tricks but you don¡¯t really seem to know what to do when facing enemies beyond hitting them with as much power as possible.¡±


    ¡°Uh, isn¡¯t that usually how you win a fight?¡± She pointed out.


    Anavi gave her a look before sighing. ¡°Throw a punch at me.¡±


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    ¡°What?¡± She blinked.


    The older woman rolled her eyes. ¡°It¡¯s a fight club, throw a punch at me.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± She reluctantly pulled her arm back and drove it forward as hard as she could.


    Only to have Anavi catch her arm, put in a lock, sweep her legs out from underneath her, and pin her to the ground by straddling her, with a fist raised into the air. ¡°Counter.¡±


    Reacting the only way she could, she moved to aim her Hand Cannon at the woman, before finding her other arm pinned beneath one of Anavi¡¯s legs. ¡°Now break free.¡±


    She struggled for a bit, quickly finding that she could not make the older woman get off of her. (Not that we¡¯d want to¡­) (Not the time!)


    After a moment she eventually sighed. ¡°I can¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Wrong.¡± Anavi shook her head. ¡°You could¡¯ve blasted a wave of force at the ground, it would¡¯ve pulled at your arms but it also could¡¯ve given you enough leverage to break free and follow up with a blast to throw me off.¡±


    She was about to try just that before Anavi stood, getting off of her.


    (Aww¡­)


    ¡°Like I said, you know the basics of fighting and you¡¯ve got a decent number of spells but you need to learn how to best use said spells to get the most out of them.¡± Anavi continued to explain. ¡°A dozen blades are worthless if you don¡¯t know how to draw the first.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ fair.¡± She was forced to admit, given how she¡¯d only really had most of her equipment for a couple of months. (Maybe I should give my gear a little more practice.)


    ¡°Don¡¯t look too down.¡± Anavi told her, once more offering her hand. ¡°You¡¯ve potential, you just need more experience.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been trying to work on.¡± She confessed as Anavi pulled her to her feet.


    ¡°And you¡¯re making progress, otherwise you wouldn¡¯t have beaten Andre¡¯s memory even if weakened a bit.¡± Anavi assured her. ¡°These things just take time. Even Za¡¯um and Blade took years to become unbreakable.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She didn¡¯t really have reference for that but she understood the sentiment at the very least.


    ¡°So, with your test over were you planning to stick around a little longer or were you going to go ahead and head home?¡± Anavi asked.


    ¡°I¡­ think it¡¯d be better for me to go ahead and head home.¡± She admitted. ¡°I¡¯ve got a few things to¡­ think about¡­¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Anavi nodded, starting towards the ring exit. ¡°Like I said, you¡¯re free to come and go as you please.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She nodded back.


    (Ask her¡­) The devil on her shoulder whispered.


    (You know it won¡¯t work out that way.)  She told herself. (Especially when she¡¯s so much older than us.)


    (True but that doesn¡¯t mean asking will hurt.) Her inner reason argued. (After all, Anavi has already been a great deal of help in what little time we¡¯ve known her.)


    She had to agree with herself on that one, before eventually deciding to just bite the bullet. ¡°Hey, uh, Anavi?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± The older woman asked, turning back towards her at the same time she waved at the other guard.


    ¡°If I were to, uh, come around again¡­¡± She started. ¡°Would you uh, mind if I uh, bugged you a bit?¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡± Anavi frowned. ¡°I¡¯m not sure that translated right.¡±


    (Don¡¯t wuss out just because she¡¯s hot!)


    ¡°I¡¯m just, you wouldn¡¯t mind if I came around and uh, asked for¡­ some advice.¡± She explained. ¡°About fighting and stuff¡­¡±


    (The ¡®and stuff¡¯ is what I¡¯m interested in.)


    (Do I need to get a spray bottle in here?)


    (Please do¡­) She really needed to get her hormones under control.


    ¡°Hmm, no, I wouldn¡¯t.¡± Anavi eventually smiled. ¡°Truthfully, back in Yggdrasil I¡¯d help a lot of the younger guards but since getting stuck here I haven¡¯t had much of an opportunity for that. So as long as nothing is going on I¡¯ve no problem giving a fellow warrioress a few pointers here and there, though whatever progress you make will have to be your own. I may give you direction but you¡¯re the one who must walk your path.¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah, th-thanks.¡± She smiled back, as she did a mental fist pump. (Yes!)


    (Step one in ¡®hot older waifu¡¯ is a go!)


    (I¡¯m fairly sure she¡¯s spoken for.) Her inner logic pointed out as they made their way to where the other guard was bring back her bike.


    (We can get husbando or two, too¡­ especially with those abs¡­) Her inner Madness drooled. (Uh, I can¡¯t drool in here.)


    (True but Maya¡¯s drooling a bit.)


    She wiped her mouth, and looked away from where the Inferni Traveler was once more flirting with Anavi in an overly affectionate manner. (The power of the abs compel you.)


    ¡°I¡¯m uh, I think I¡¯ll get going¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, feel free to come by whenever Za¡¯um and I are the main guards here so we¡¯ll remember you for you next visit.¡± Anavi assured her.


    ¡°Right.¡± She nodded, before waving as she started leading her bike to the exit. ¡°Uh, see you then.¡±


    (Well, while we didn¡¯t manage much in the heroic direction I feel today was still fairly productive.) Her inner reason told her. (We found new training site, gained a possible mentor-)


    (Who, bonus, is extremely hot.)


    (Quite.) Her inner logic was unable to refute. (And we gained access to a tournament that¡¯s bound to prove profitable in multiple ways.)


    ¡°Yeah, today was a good day.¡± She agreed, before wincing as she felt one of her numerous bruises starting to form. ¡°Just¡­ got to uh, heal before we focus on any of that too much¡­.¡±

 Turn 78: Concerns And Adjustments

    Turn 78: Concerns And Adjustments


    ¡°So¡­ certain information has come to my attention.¡± She began, watching Izzy with narrowed eyes as an amused Vi and a confused Tommy sat on the couch, one having figured out what she was doing and the other having simply told to show up here. ¡°Information involving one Isabella Williams.¡±


    ¡°Alright, what is this?¡± The middle schooler asked their older siblings.


    Tommy shrugged. ¡°No idea¡­ I thought this was like a game night thing.¡±


    ¡°It is, because there is a question of somebody¡¯s game!¡± She nodded, pointing at her brother to emphasize her point.


    Tommy squinted. ¡°What?¡±


    Vi let out a snort, before whispering. ¡°Maya¡¯s doing a bit, just roll with it.¡±


    ¡°Uh, you going to explain the bit?¡± Tommy whispered back.


    ¡°I will!¡± Maya exclaimed. ¡°It has come to my attention that on Halloween -a night we all would rather forget- Izzy developed her first crush!¡±


    ¡°Ooh!¡± Tommy¡¯s eyes widened as both his and Vi¡¯s darted from Maya to Izzy.


    Izzy scrunched up. ¡°I, wha- No!¡±


    ¡°Oh, so you don¡¯t get a warm and fuzzy feeling when you think about the boy who saved you?¡± She pointedly asked. ¡°The boy who is definitely too old for you!¡±


    ¡°What? No I don¡¯t have a crush.¡± Izzy denied, (though the redness of her cheeks clearly mean she¡¯s lying!!!)


    (Or we¡¯re running wild with something relatively minor.) Her inner reason suggested.


    (Nonsense!) Her inner madness refuted.


    ¡°So you don¡¯t find yourself randomly thinking about the boy?¡± She asked, skepticism clear.


    ¡°I-uh- No!¡± Izzy lied, unable to meet anyone¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Now there is nothing wrong with you getting a crush on someone who saved your life.¡± She admitted, before pointing out that, ¡°It¡¯s simply¡­ uh, what was it? Transference or the suspension bridge effect! And as a strong independent young woman you should rise above these petty psychological lies! Especially since the guy is like Tommy¡¯s age and it would be all kinds of red flags if he didn¡¯t rip your heart out and stomp it on the ground.¡±


    ¡°Not the way I would¡¯ve put it but she -when you get past the madness- does have a point.¡± Vi agreed, waving her hand. ¡°Though crushing on heroes is fairly common, especially for your first crush. And given how Maya has zero room to berate you given her internet¡­ history isn¡¯t the word¡­ Tommy?¡±


    Tommy smirked before leaning forward. ¡°List of debauchery, trash heap, house of horny horrors, actually that last one works too well with travelers¡­¡±


    ¡°Something like that.¡± Vi nodded.


    ¡°Wha- you guys are supposed to be on my side!¡± She whined. ¡°Izzy is too young for a crush, especially on someone older than me and crazy enough to kill with his teeth!¡±


    ¡°Both valid points.¡± Vi agreed, seeing things her way. ¡°But at the same time you really shouldn¡¯t be bugging your hermanita about her first crush.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s right.¡± Tommy agreed, snapping a finger as he pointed at their older sister. ¡°Mam¨¢ teased me about my first crush, and I don¡¯t intend to introduce anyone I date to any of you until after the wedding. At which point they¡¯d be too far in to back out.¡±


    ¡°That seems¡­ underhanded.¡± She felt the need to point out.


    ¡°Love and war, hermanita.¡± Tommy shrugged.


    ¡°We-we¡¯re getting off topic.¡± She frowned, pinching the bridge of her nose. ¡°We¡¯re here to talk about Izzy-¡± She pointed at empty space. ¡°Wha-where did she go?!¡±


    ¡°She evac-ed a minute ago when I got bored of you embarrassing her and decided to switch to you.¡± Vi answered. ¡°Speaking of, how are things going with you and Ying lately?¡±


    ¡°Or that other girl you¡¯ve been talking about Aisha?¡± Tommy added.


    (This was a trap.) Her inner reason was realized with no small amount of betrayal.


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to Vi, and Tommy.


    ---


    Having eventually managed to escape her elder siblings, Maya made her way to the secluded safety of her lab where she noticed an alert from a very specific computer built for a very specific reason. More specifically an alert telling her, ¡°We found Tommy¡¯s attacker!¡±


    Tossing aside the parts she had in her hand she rushed over to the computer and began shifting through the information her program had managed to compile. Or rather she did that after slipping, crashing into the ground and picking herself up. (Which is why we shouldn¡¯t run in the lab.)


    (Shut up¡­)


    Once righted she opened the program and quickly figured out what she could. ¡°Okay, so¡­ we don¡¯t have the actual attacker¡¯s ID but we have a massive list of people who have been treated for similar issues as Tommy.¡±


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    (Doctor patient confidentiality, what¡¯s that?) Her inner madness asked as she pulled up the list of names her program had gathered.


    ¡°Ahem, anyway by cross referencing data compiled from this list of people as well as using the tracking software installed in all phones and location pins from social media-¡±


    (All of which we have disabled on our own equipment since the incident.) Her inner logic double checked as she opened a map covered in little red dots.


    (I made sure we did.) Her inner paranoia confirmed.


    Ignoring the voices in her head she continued, ¡°By cross referencing all of that information we have narrowed down the location of Tommy¡¯s attacker to¡­ this neighborhood.¡± She decided, zooming into an area with an extremely dense number of dots before pulling up pictures of said neighborhood.


    ¡°And given how according to those Hunters ¡®magic¡¯ was involved we can further narrow things down to this magic shop¡­ though that one is more circumstantial than the rest.¡± She forced herself to admit as she looked at the image of a store named ¡®Meyer¡¯s magic and books.¡¯


    (Eh, they¡¯re filthy magic users, they deserve whatever harassment we give ¡®em.) Her inner prejudice assured her.


    (Let¡¯s not take it too far, we don¡¯t want a repeat of Decker with them calling the police on us.) Her inner reason argued.


    ¡°Right¡­ right¡­¡± She sighed, unable to argue with herself on this one. (Nonsense we can always argue with ourselves. It¡¯s like half our gimmick.)


    (That said, we should also consider whether we¡¯re really ready for whatever confrontation we¡¯re bound to be looking at here.) Her logic continued, ignoring their insanity.


    She paused at that and actually felt the various aches and bruises remaining from her little trip through the fight pit, before shaking her head. ¡°We¡­ We have those healing herbs. We can use them to patch ourselves up for any fight we might get into.¡±


    (And our power supply?)


    ¡°Is still under ten percent¡­¡± She grimaced, knowing full well that that was nowhere near enough power to go picking a fight with a Deviant.


    (Especially not one with Slaver abilities¡­) Her inner reason underlined, before telling her. (Now that we know where to go, it¡¯s best to prep ourselves and then go in when properly prepared.)


    (Or -hear me out- we can do some scouting stuff without fighting.) Her more impatient self suggested. (After all, they¡¯re a store and we¡¯re a teenager, we can lie and say we¡¯re curious about becoming a filthy vile magic user.)


    ¡°And we don¡¯t know one hundred percent that this is the place.¡± She nodded, liking the idea of doing a bit of scouting first. ¡°Though we should do something to make sure we¡¯re ready for whatever we might find.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Informant Network will now add 2D6 progress towards Elizabeth¡¯s investigation each Turn.


    -Can now choose to track down the source of Tommy¡¯s slaver effect. (When ready.)


    ---


    Knowing that this whole endeavor might require a subtler approach than her usual methods, after switching her Informant Network¡¯s priorities to her other major case in Elizabeth, she began working away at an upgrade for her Stealth Protocols.


    Namely making it so that the invisibility -(you mean transparency)- field remained active even if she or her DMs were to move while the field was active.


    ¡°Okay, now for the test run.¡± She told her LCMs as they watched her turn her Stealth Pak on.


    With her body becoming largely transparent she began to slowly move, an action that previously would cause her stealth protocols to give out. ¡°Alright, now a little faster.¡±


    She began slowly speeding her movements up as she walked out of her lab before slowly putting on speed as she ran down the hall.


    (It¡¯s giving out.) Her inner madness informed her, when the stealth protocols went from making her entire body invisible -(transparent)- to only covering her torso.


    Though when she looked down to check she saw that even then her torso was still more visible than if she¡¯d been standing still, the light more blurring and refracting off of her than blending into the background.


    ¡°So cl-oh, shit!¡± She cursed, her distracted gaze causing her to trip and face plant onto the ground.


    (And again, this is why we shouldn¡¯t run in the lab.)


    ¡°But I wasn¡¯t in the lab¡­¡± She groaned.


    (Technically, the whole hospital is our lab now that we¡¯ve cleared the Bloodhounds out and made peace with Elizabeth.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah, well¡­ shut up¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Stealth Protocols upgraded to V1.1.


    --[Invisibility] -([Transparency])- buff now remains active even while moving normally. However this buff will be disabled if the user performs a non-subtle action. (I.E. Attacking, Sprinting, etc.)


    *A/N: There was a tie, and I wanted to undo the stealth thing since we did it already -I just forgot to remove it- unfortunately we only had one build option so I chose a random upgrade for our stealth build instead. (It was free though!)


    ---


    Stumbling home after a successful -if mildly painful (because you¡¯re clumsy.) (Shut up!)- series of tests to her newest upgrade, she found her Mam¨¢ sticking close to Seamus while her father looked on with a touch of concern.


    ¡°Uh, what¡¯s up?¡± She asked quietly, given how a mother playing with their child should be a good thing.


    Her dad grimaced before sighing and motioning for her to follow him into the kitchen. ¡°Your uh, mom is¡­ going through a bit of a rough patch¡­ Not that I can blame her! But¡­ I am getting a little worried.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Right, well with everything going on the last couple of months¡­ Between the mess at the summer festival, the thing with Tommy, and now this Halloween mess¡­¡± Her dad sighed, going quiet for a second before continuing, ¡°She¡¯s uh, she¡¯s not in a good place¡­¡±


    She glanced around the corner at her Mam¨¢ and noticed that the older woman was looking a little¡­ frayed around the edges, with notable bags under her eyes.


    ¡°I mean, I get it. There¡¯s been a lot of dangerous stuff the last few months but¡­ at the same time she hasn¡¯t really let Seamus out of her sight the last few days. And honestly it was a miracle I got her to not keep all of you home this week.¡± Her dad finished explaining as best he could. ¡°It¡¯s¡­ I get it, but I¡¯m also starting to get worried about her.¡±


    ¡°Do, um, is there anything I can¡­ do?¡± She asked, not really sure what she could do since whenever there was a big problem like this her parents usually ended up going to Vi or Tommy. (But that¡¯s when they need help with the rest of you.)


    Her dad grimaced before giving her a look. ¡°Just¡­ if you can, try not to do anything too stressful for your mom. I know it¡¯s not a big thing, but I was also going to bring it up with Tommy and Vi, just try to spend a little more time where she can see you and know you¡¯re okay?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I uh, I can do that.¡± She nodded, trying very hard not to think about the fact that she was going to pick a fight with a Slaver in the next week or so. ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ stay safe¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Grown a bit closer to dad.

 Turn 79: The Rise Of Machines And Medicine

    Turn 79: The Rise Of Machines And Medicine


    --- Maya ---


    After her recent excursion to Anavi¡¯s fight club, and her attempt at best the Bloody Ballroom, Maya was forced to once more confront the fact that she needed more power. And not the Dakka kind of power, but the energy generate by her COMP¡¯s Generator() program to fuel all of her other programs.


    Which is why she spent several after school¡¯s tweaking the various variables of her program in the hopes of finding something that would generate more power for her to use and decrease how many days it took for her COMP to recharge.


    (The sooner we get this done, the more heroic things we can get done in a month.) She told herself for the umptenth time, as she forced herself to continue to focus on a project she was quickly becoming bored with.


    (Ugh, there has to be a better way of doing this¡­) Her inner Madness whined, more fed up with the monotony than any other part of her. (That¡¯s because I¡¯m the fun one and this is not fun!)


    ¡°It really isn¡¯t¡­¡± She couldn¡¯t help but agree, after all there were only so many ways to make a program breaking reality to break it even further in a singular direction. ¡°But we need to get this done, so unless you¡¯ve got something even more important to Mask work than upping our energy we¡¯re stuck working on this.¡±


    (Mm, give me a second¡­ I¡¯ve got something just. Let. Me. Remember¡­) Her inner passion told her, before reminding her that, (The healing herbs are done and that means we can build a med-bay!)


    She paused for a moment, before opening a little monitoring program for her bio-pods and finding that, yes, her healing herbs were in fact done growing. Meaning that she did have a different project equally as important -(Actually more so considering how many bruises I¡¯ve still got.)- to her Mask career than the tedious work she¡¯d been chipping away at for three days.


    (Salvation is at hand!)


    Scene Consequences


    -Progress on Generator Power upgrade: (2/3)


    -Gained 1XP to Reality Hacking


    --Currently: Lv. 6 (7/14)


    Collections:


    -Fodder


    --Overgrown Bonus: Yield doubled. (There¡¯s only one roll on this dice.)


    --Yield: 8 Organics (Currently: 12 Organics)


    -Healing Herbs


    --Overgrown Bonus: Healing Herbs upgraded to Superior Healing Herbs, restoring 2 Health States on use. (Multiple outcomes available on this one. (Also still count as regular Healing Herbs for building purposes.))


    --Yield: 1 Superior Healing Herb


    -Gained 2XP to Biology


    --Currently: Biology Lv. 3 (6/8)


    ---


    Finally having an excuse to slack-


    (Ahem.)


    (I mean¡­)


    Finally having a decent number of Healing Herbs stocked up and stored away, Maya decided that it was finally time to work on something that really fit with her lair¡¯s whole hospital motif. (Actually, does it count as a motif when our base is inside of an actual hospital?)


    (Eh, the hospital is abandoned so it¡¯s not really a hospital anymore is it?)


    (It¡¯s a debatable point on the matter.) Her inner logic admitted.


    (Fair enough.)


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    (Anyway¡­)


    After several hours of work and shifting through the various hospital tools her DM¡¯s had found while cleaning the hospital up, she put together a room that with a bit of M.A.D. mag- (Hiss!) (Hiss?) (Hiss hiss!)- a bit of M.A.D. science¡­ would let her heal her various aches and bruises. Or barring that allow them to heal far easier than they would if left alone, as well as actually converting the various medical supplies she¡¯d built up into a more usable form.


    ¡°That should do it.¡± She nodded, dusting her hands off and looking around the room that was a fairly solid mimicry of a doctor¡¯s office¡­ if only because it actually was a doctor¡¯s office at one point. ¡°Hey, I cleaned it up.¡±


    (You had the LCMs clean it up.)


    ¡°Well, I moved the stuff that was too heavy for them!¡±


    (You tried to make the DMs do that, but then remembered they aren¡¯t here right now.)


    ¡°Not helping!¡± She told herself.


    (What are you talking about? I¡¯m clearly helping you win this argument¡­ I¡¯m just also guaranteeing that the other you loses it.)


    ¡°If you don¡¯t shut up I¡¯m going to lose it!¡±


    (Isn¡¯t it a bit late for that?)


    ¡°Hiss!!!¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Med Bay has been added to the Beacon Hospital base.


    --Maya¡¯s passive healing rate has increased.


    --Unlocked numerous medical upgrades.


    --Maya can now perform medical actions on allied units at the price of consuming medical supplies.


    Note: Healing Herbs were not actually consumed, but were needed for the Med Bay to actually function. All herbs have been moved to Resources.


    -For finishing the Med Bay gained 1XP to Biology and First Aid.


    --Currently: Biology Lv. 3 (7/8) and First Aid Lv. 1 (1/4).


    ---


    Having used her club activities as an excuse for why she wasn¡¯t heading home after school when her mam¨¢ picked her up, she found herself being dropped off at the M.A.D. club. Something she couldn¡¯t exactly argue against given her mother¡¯s¡­ situation.


    After making her way inside -since her mother didn¡¯t want to leave until she was safely inside. (Helicopter parent.) (Don¡¯t.)- she found the idea of simply walking back out once her mam¨¢ was gone to be a little too awkward for her. (But at the same time I don¡¯t feel like settling in here either¡­)


    She had plans for what she wanted to work on and delaying them was giving her a bit of a headache. Especially since it felt like she was on the verge of discovering something or making a breakthrough of some kind given how excited the whispers were being. (Need something to distract me¡­)


    (Mm¡­ Ooh! Did we ever find out what was up with the whole robot uprising thing?)


    ¡°No¡­ we did not.¡± She realized, careful avoiding Carol who she was fairly certain was the reason why Kim refused to elaborate on ¡®the incident¡¯.


    Which is why instead she made her way to Melvin figuring that her -(Does he count as our mentor here? We spend a lot of time learning from him?) (Sure why not?)- her mentor would be able to tell her something about what she was labeling a fairly concerning incident.


    ¡°Oh, Maya, what¡¯s up?¡± Melvin asked as she knocked on the door to his work space. ¡°Don¡¯t think we¡¯ve got a lesson today?¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t but I was kind of hoping you could answer a question for me.¡± She admitted.


    ¡°Sure if I know the answer.¡± Melvin shrugged, before resuming his work.


    ¡°So¡­ What can you tell me about this whole robot uprising thing?¡±


    Melvin froze for a moment before coughing into his hand. ¡°Uh, is Carol around?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Right, well uh, that is a bit of a story¡­ so, uh, help me wrap this up and when you ask afterwards I¡¯ll tell you, okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± She nodded, feeling like she was missing something but not entirely sure what it was. ¡°What exactly are we working on?¡±


    ¡°Nothing too complicated, just need some help rewiring these circuits before putting them back into their casing.¡± Melvin explained. ¡°Easy stuff, just a bit mindless and boring.¡±


    ¡°Fine¡­¡± She sighed, before getting to work.


    Work that was in fact extremely boring and mind numbing, enough so that at some point she just checked out and let her whispers take over more or less as she spent the next few hours taking apart and putting back together the various devices her mentor put in front of her.


    ¡°Alright, think we¡¯re done here for today.¡± Melvin eventually yawned out as he stretched his arms out. ¡°Good job, kid. You mind cleaning up while I drop these off with Carol. You can head home when you¡¯re done.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± She waved him off as he left their workspace for the umptenth time to drop off the various projects they¡¯d been working on.


    Once she was done, she spent another hour waiting for Melvin to come back, before she finally realized, ¡°That motherfucker ditched us!¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya has learned¡­ very little about the robot uprising beyond no one wants to talk about it¡­ (Which is why we must investigate more!!!)


    -Also due to trying to distract Maya, Melvin has taught us 1XP to both Metalworking and Electronics.


    --Currently: Metalworking Lv. 5 (8/12) and Electronics Lv. 6 (11/14)


    A/N: Yeah¡­ no one is willing to talk, going to have to press someone in particular.

 Turn 80: Science, Siblings, and Secrets

    Turn 80: Science, Siblings, and Secrets


    --- Maya ---


    Now that she¡¯d built herself a med bay -and knew that just asking around the club wouldn¡¯t give her any answers- Maya decided to instead focus her efforts on something that could prove more productive. Namely figuring out how to more efficiently use her Healing Herbs, because while she could use the herbs to make a salve to help with bruising cuts and other various injuries she felt that that wasn¡¯t exactly useful mid-combat.


    Which is why she instead figured out how to break her herbs down into a chemical solution that could be more readily consumed or injected into the human body.


    (You make that sound fancy but all we really did was grind it up and stir it into a candy tube filled with water.) Her inner critique pointed out.


    ¡°Ah, ah, a program reinforced candy tube.¡± She corrected herself, as she held up the vial that would make healing mid-combat an option¡­ just so long as she remembered to make an injector to go with it.


    ¡°Oh, shit. Knew I was forgetting something.¡± She frowned, going over to some of her scrap and prodding her whispers to give her some ideas.


    (I don¡¯t wanna.)


    ¡°What?¡±


    (I¡¯m having a lazy day.)


    She pinched the bridge of her nose, before deciding that it was easier to not fight this and instead pulled up a search tab on her computer. ¡°Right, given how common healing herbs are there¡¯s got to be some kind of easy blueprint for a- ah-ha, a Chem Injector!¡±


    It¡¯d take a little bit of effort but it was also generic and simple enough that it wouldn¡¯t put a major dent in her supplies, ¡°Hell I don¡¯t even need to make it myself. This thing is simple enough that I can just get the LCMs to make it for me.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya can now convert Healing Herbs into a Healing Serum, allowing her to regenerate HP each Round for a duration dependent on Herb Quality.


    --Note: This serum does not remove Physical Debuffs.


    --Standard Herbs: Last 3 Rounds in combat.


    -The LCMs have developed: Serum Injector (Mk. 1)


    --Chem Injector allows Maya to use any developed Serum mid-combat as a Standard Action.


    -Gained 1XP to Biology. (+2XP for setting Bio-Pods.)


    --*Skill Level Up* Biology Lv. 4 (2/10)


    ---


    ¡°You know when you said you were in an M.A.D. club I was expecting something a little¡­ different.¡± Tommy admitted as the elder half of the Williams children made their way through said club.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She frowned.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know like¡­ I was expecting drones or something flying through the air, you know like Sanctuary¡¯s got all over the place.¡± Her brother elaborated.


    (Add that to the todo list will you?)


    (Done.)


    ¡°Yeah, or at the very least robots.¡± Vi added, peeking into a club room just in time to watch something catch fire. ¡°Though uh, that might¡¯ve been asking too much.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ everyone here is a low level Deviant you know? I think they said no one here is over D Rank.¡± She explained. (Well everyone but me anyway.)


    After all, she could hack reality itself. She was pretty sure that made her A Rank by default.


    (Yeah, we just got to work our way out of elo hell and get into a proper league.)


    (How are we in elo hell, when we¡¯re playing solo?)


    (Well, we¡¯ve got you on our team, so¡­)


    ¡°I guess that explains why none of the gangs bother this place.¡± Vi mumbled low enough that she was pretty sure her sister hadn¡¯t meant for her to hear.


    ¡°Yeah, fish too small for the effort.¡± Tommy agreed just as quietly, as they passed what looked like a regular garden but she knew was actually filled with a number of gene spliced plants such as a bunch of impossible in nature blue roses.


    ¡°Hopefully, that applies to Maya too¡­¡± Vi threw out, causing her a twinge of annoyance.


    Part of her wanted to correct her siblings out of pride (because we are not some low level scrubs!)


    But her more logical side prevailed with the argument of, (as long as they think we¡¯re low level they won¡¯t worry about us getting into trouble¡­ or kidnapped.)


    She couldn¡¯t help but grimace at the reminder of that little episode.


    (We ever figure out what happened there?)


    (No, though we probably should look into that again.)


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, there¡¯s not going to be another Asylum mess.¡± Tommy assured Vi in a tone that told her Asylum -(Which sounds familiar¡­)- was a very bad thing.


    Sensing that her siblings'' heads were going in a direction that would very much ruin her attempts at reassuring them about her M.A.D. status, she turned around and asked them, ¡°So what do you guys think?¡±


    Both Tommy and Vi blinked for a moment, before Tommy recovered and told her that, ¡°Yeah, all of this stuff looks pretty¡­ cool.¡±


    ¡°I know right!¡± She smiled, purposely setting aside her feelings on her siblings'' odd behavior. ¡°They even pay for some of my cheaper inventions each week.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Vi asked. ¡°Like a community art supply type of deal?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, though they only really cover one project a month due to budget issues and junk.¡± She admitted. ¡°Part of the reason why I have to scavenge up so much junk all the time.¡±


    ¡°Like all the broken electronics in the house.¡± Tommy nodded as if putting something together.


    ¡°Exactly, though uh, I store a lot of that at the uh, hospital rather than here.¡± She told him, seeing a way to explain away her little ¡®lair¡¯. ¡°That way I don¡¯t have to risk someone stealing any of the good stuff.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ makes sense.¡± Vi figured frowning as she watched someone pass by with a cart full of parts. ¡°I¡¯m guessing being an M.A.D. can get¡­ expensive.¡±


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Yeah, I dump pretty much all of my allowance on this stuff.¡± She grimaced, before shaking her head. ¡°Honestly, only reason I can afford some of my more expensive stuff is because they pay us to help out with the tours sometimes.¡±


    ¡°Wait, doesn¡¯t that mean you¡¯ve got like, an actual job?¡± Vi frowned. ¡°And you didn¡¯t tell anyone?¡±


    ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not really a job¡­ I can help out whenever I get time. They don¡¯t really expect us to do anything unless we volunteer in advance.¡± She explained with a frown of her own.


    ¡°Still that¡¯s¡­ Hmm¡­¡± Vi made a face before sighing and running a hand through her hair. ¡°Hey, uh, you know that¡­ now that I know about this M.A.D. stuff, I can¡­ I can help you with some of it¡­ now and then.¡±


    ¡°Uh, what do you mean?¡± She asked curiously, glancing towards Tommy who had a contemplative look of his own.


    ¡°I can¡¯t help with the actual like building or whatever but¡­ if there¡¯s ever a part you really need, or if you¡­ need a ride here or something, I can probably help out.¡± Her older sister explained.


    ¡°Yeah, and if she can¡¯t I might be able to work something out.¡± Tommy offered, throwing an arm over Vi¡¯s shoulders.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s¡­¡± She felt something warm in her chest. ¡°Thanks¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Tommy and Vi are a lot more comfortable with Maya being an active M.A.D. and will occasionally do things to help her out with non-Mask, Deviant things. (I.E. Maya now gets a randomly activating Sibling Assist every Week.)


    ---


    Despite the warm and fuzzy feelings she had gotten after showing her siblings around the M.A.D. club, even going so far as to introduce them to Melvin and Kim, she found herself unable to keep her mind from drawing to the one little shadow on the whole event.


    Asylum, and why her siblings seemed to be scared of it in regards to herself.


    Which is how she found herself going down a rabbit hole of mildly suppressed history from the Rift Riots of the nineties, back before either the Hero¡¯s Guild or Sanctuary had been brought into play.


    At first she simply dismissed the organization as a sort of proto-Sanctuary that eventually evolved into the organization she was more familiar with occasionally seeing on the streets.


    It didn¡¯t take her long to realize that while it was in fact Sanctuary¡¯s precursor, it was also its significantly more racist and violent precursor. One that had at one point tried to commit outright genocide against the Deviants of america.


    Something that caused her to grow increasingly appreciative of the current standard of Sanctuary, which while occasionally filled with assholes like any other law enforcement agency, was still noticeably kinder to Deviants on the whole. Even going so far as to allow some Deviants to take on positions of authority and rank within the organization.


    In spite of the general mood of the topics she was researching, she couldn¡¯t help but pause her research at the image of a white haired woman with blood red eyes, dressed in a jacketless suit and vest. A murder of crows surrounding the woman¡¯s figure as she stood atop the corpse of a Creep while staring down a dozen more with a gun in one hand and a flame burning in the other.


    A level of badassery that had her wondering if she could one day be like the woman in the picture.


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya has learned more about the previous generation of Deviants, Sanctuary, and Asylum.


    -Maya has a begrudging -and cautious- respect for the local Sanctuary branch.


    --This removes the default [Dislike] reputation all uninformed Deviants have towards Sanctuary. (Note: Sanctuary was and is Neutral towards Maya¡¯s existence, she had the penalty when talking them into things or listening to them. (Which would have bit you if you crossed paths with them before now.))


    ---


    ¡°What¡¯s got you in a mood?¡± Ying asked as they and Aisha walked towards the school exit.


    ¡°I¡¯m not in a mood.¡± She frowned. ¡°I¡¯m just thinking about some stuff¡­¡±


    Namely, the fact that she found herself wanting to emulate a woman who wasn¡¯t just a (filthy magic user) but also happened to be a (Sanctuary sellout.) Both things that she normally wouldn¡¯t offer any thoughts of admiration towards.


    (Oh, is someone acknowledging their biases are bad?)


    (Shut up, we shall fall for foul seductress¡¯s sexy wiles or temptations! We are a science stan in this household!)


    Ying rolled her eyes as she opened the school¡¯s front door. ¡°And what exactly has you so distracted that- oh, shit.¡±


    She and Aisha both froze and gave Ying a look, because despite Maya¡¯s inability to go five minutes without cursing, and Aisha occasionally cursed during one of her games in surprisingly brutal trash talk, it was far more rare for the more ¡®proper¡¯ of their trio to curse out of nowhere like that.


    Leaning around the taller teen she tried to see what could elicit such a reaction from Ying, since the only thing she could really think of that would get that kind of reaction would be if her mom showed up randomly. (And I don¡¯t see that bitch anywhere.)


    The only thing she could see that was even slightly out of place was a gray-haired woman standing near the gates wearing something distinctly less formal than anything worn by any of the school¡¯s students or staff.


    Ying glanced around with a panicked look before rushing towards the woman with a hurried pace.


    Always a metiche, she found herself following with an equally curious Aisha.


    ¡°M-Miss Edna, what are you doing here?!¡± Ying practically hissed.


    ¡°Eh, had a free day, and figured it wouldn¡¯t do if I only saw Jon while I was in town.¡± The woman explained, completely unbothered by Ying¡¯s very clear distress.


    ¡°Yes, but-¡± Ying glanced over at them. ¡°Why are you here?!¡±


    ¡°Oh, Ying-y are you embarrassed by me?¡± The woman sniffed, tears forming in her eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t want your friends to know about your sugar mama?¡±


    She coughed, as Ying let slapped her face. ¡°You¡¯re not- She¡¯s not my-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just teasing.¡± The woman laughed, tears gone in an instant as she turned back to the other teens. ¡°So I¡¯m guessing these two are your tower prin-¡±


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Ying interrupted, face going red.


    ¡°Oh, you really are so much easier to tease.¡± The woman smiled, before offering Aisha -who had taken a step too close- her hand. ¡°Name ¡®s Edna Donovan, any friend of Ying¡¯s is someone to give the shovel talk to.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Aisha blinked.


    ¡°You know the talk where I have to warn them about her getting a shovel to bury th-¡± Edna was cut off as Ying elbowed the older woman, a more physical interaction than Maya usually saw out of the other teen. ¡°Oh, Ying, this is elderly abuse!¡±


    ¡°No one will believe you¡¯re a day over forty.¡± Ying glared, her eyes seemingly flashing.


    ¡°Ah, thanks.¡± Edna preened, fluffing her hair. ¡°Anima is fantastic for skin care.¡±


    ¡°Um, sorry but uh, who are you?¡± She felt the need to ask, because clearly she was someone of import to Ying given how differently the other girl was acting.


    ¡°I already said, I¡¯m Edna Donovan, keep up kid. Got to be quick or life you¡¯ll con ya.¡± Edna warned her.


    ¡°I meant, who are you to Ying?¡± She frowned.


    Edna clasped a hand to her heart. ¡°Ying, you haven¡¯t told your friends about me? I¡¯m hurt.¡±


    ¡°No you¡¯re not.¡± Ying sighed, apparently done with whatever was going on here.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not.¡± Edna admitted with a shrug. ¡°Honestly, can¡¯t blame you for wanting to live a double life. Mystery like that is how you pick up the girls.¡± The older woman gave Ying a finger gun, before coughing into her hand. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m Ying¡¯s summer boss, mentor, and possibly her actual maternal figure having met her mother. If she want¡¯s, my ex has two foster kids so why shouldn¡¯t I, right?¡±


    ¡°W-what?¡± She blinked, unable to keep up with the woman in front of her.


    ¡°Sam¡¯s got an adoption addiction, just like his dad and his brother both. Swear the shits contagious with the way I feel about half of the kids at my camp.¡± Edna elaborated in a way that explained nothing.


    Ying inhaled deeply before exhaling. ¡°Miss Edna, did you¡­ need something?¡±


    ¡°Eh, mostly wanted to show up and see what kind of chaos I could make.¡± The older woman confessed.


    ¡°I see¡­¡± Ying ground out, before turning back to Maya and Aisha. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I need to deal with this¡­ hot mess.¡±


    ¡°Underline the hot.¡± Edna told them.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see you girls later¡­¡± Ying sighed, walking over to Edna. ¡°So can we go somewhere else for¡­ whatever it is you¡¯re here for?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing.¡± Edna nodded, placing a hand on Ying¡¯s shoulder before raising a hand into the air.


    Ying¡¯s eyes went wide. ¡°Wait, no, that¡¯s not what I-¡±


    Edna snapped her fingers and both her and Ying disappeared in a flash of blue.


    (...)


    (...)


    (...)


    Silence rained for several moments, as what few people that had been near the gate all stared at where Ying -a fairly well known individual- had just teleported away in what was clearly magic.


    At least until Aisha broke said silence,¡°Uh, Maya¡­ do you, uh, do you know what just happened?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ No I do not.¡± (But I intend to find out.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya is now aware Ying has some connection to magic, but not what that connection is.

 Turn 81: New Friends And Old Friends

    Turn 81: New Friends And Old Friends


    --- Maya ---


    While she wanted to confront Ying immediately about her knowing a Deviant other than Maya -(because hypocrisy!)- she found this difficult given how Ying seemed to be avoiding her. Though her more reasonable self, felt that it might¡¯ve just been because it was the weekend, and her mother was dragging her out to something.


    (Yeah, I doubt that.) She frowned, angrily typing away at her keyboard as she finished chipping away at the upgrade for her Generator program that she¡¯d been working on and off for the last while.


    Her inner logic let out a mental sigh. (You are aware that there is nothing wrong with Ying having a Deviant friend other than us. Nor is there anything wrong with keeping said friend secret, when we ourselves are keeping our Deviancy secret.)


    ¡°It¡¯s not about¡­¡± She ran a hand through her hair. ¡°I¡¯m not mad about her keeping someone¡¯s secret, it¡¯s just that it¡¯s pretty clear this ¡®Edna¡¯ woman isn¡¯t keeping her Deviancy a secret. Meaning that Ying is purposely keeping a double life secret.¡±


    (Again¡­ hypocrisy!)


    ¡°You both know that¡¯s not the same thing!¡± She growled. ¡°We¡¯re trying to be heroes, letting everyone know that we¡¯re a Mask is a sure fire way to get someone hurt. That¡¯s like Mask 101! The only reason Vi and Tommy know we¡¯re a Deviant is because we had to tell them to help them, and I have no intention of telling them we¡¯re a Mask anytime soon.¡±


    (Then what about Decker, Kim, or even Anavi?) Her inner reason asked.


    ¡°Kim and everyone else at the club are M.A.D.s and none of them know we¡¯re a Mask.¡± She pointedly reminded herself. ¡°And neither Decker nor Anavi have any idea who we are under the Mask.¡±


    (Still it feels your angry at her for something you yourself are doing¡­)


    ¡°Just¡­shut up.¡± She told herself, before realizing she¡¯d finished her upgrade to her Generator program.


    She began massaging the bridge of her nose as she realized that despite spending most of a Saturday afternoon working on her program she was still feeling frustrated over the whole thing with Ying.


    (I¡­ need to find something else to do¡­) She eventually decided, before taking a look around her lab to see what she had to work with. (Okay, running low on Scrap and I¡¯m completely out of Plastics, but I¡¯ve got plenty of Organics and Electronics¡­)


    She ran a hand down her face at yet another frustration. ¡°Ugh, going to have to set the DM¡¯s to start collecting Scrap or Plastic¡­ or maybe I should split them up to get a little of both.¡± She looked over her remaining supplies. ¡°Or maybe¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Generator Upgraded to V1.3 (Mem 4/6)


    --Current Power Generation: 5 Units per Turn


    -Gained 1XP to Reality Hacking


    --Currently: Lv. 6 (8/14)


    ---


    While creating the basic frame for her Minions that DM-1 had started out as was a simple task that she had more than enough parts for, she found that she was running a fair bit shy of the amount she needed to get all of the upgrades she¡¯d given the DMs since then.


    Luckily, between the three LCMs she was able to get enough of the finer work done and convert enough of her otherwise unusable parts from her other projects to piece together everything her latest minion needed to be on the same level as their elder siblings. Though it did leave him looking a little rougher around the edges than DM-1 and DM-2 had after their upgrades.


    ¡°Eh, it gives you character.¡± She told her newest Minion, as she began bringing him online. ¡°I mean if not for their personalities and DM-1 having a bit more wear and tear I wouldn¡¯t be able to tell them apart. But you, you¡¯ve got your own look going on, don¡¯t you DM-3?¡±


    ¡°Yes, mum.¡± DM-3 nodded slowly, as his programming took control of his body and slowly stretched each movable piece out before giving a full body shiver and correcting his stance with a few heavy steps.


    Once he was passingly familiar with his new body, her latest little drone gave her a determined look -or at least as determined as a machine with limited physical emotes could manage- before asking, ¡°Orders?¡±


    ¡°Uh, orders?¡± She repeated, a touch confused given how this was the first time one of her drones had been able to talk upon creation.


    ¡°Orders?¡± DM-3 asked her once more, while watching intently.


    ¡°Uh, live and be happy?¡± She offered, her newest minion.


    DM-3 gave a staticy sound that could only be interpreted as a frustrated growl, before once more asking, ¡°Orders, mum?¡±


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± She gave her little drone a confused frown as she began piecing together what he was saying. ¡°You¡¯re¡­ going to be a busy little bee aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, mum.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya has created new Drone Minion: DM-3 (Dimitri)


    ---


    (Hey, do you ever wonder if this counts as child labor?)


    ¡°What?¡± She blinked, taking a break from playing lookout as she watched DM-3 use his tools to cut a large piece of metal into a more manageable size.


    (Well, we keep calling the drones our kids, and we¡¯re kind of putting our ¡®kids¡¯ to work gathering things for us to build with.) Her inner madness explained.


    ¡°What? No, that¡¯s¡­ not what¡¯s happening here.¡± She denied shaking her head as DM-3 threw another piece of scrap on his back to carry to the base.


    (...)


    ¡°It¡¯s not!¡± She cried. ¡°I mean, yeah they¡¯re our kids but¡­ they¡¯re not really kids, they¡¯re¡­ machines.¡±


    (So slavery is okay if it¡¯s a machine?)


    ¡°No, no, that is not what¡¯s happening here!¡± She told herself as her youngest little minion took a break from working under the hot sun to see what she was yelling at. ¡°Okay, I know you¡¯re wording things that way on purpose! It¡¯s like seventy degrees tops!¡± She told herself as her youngest little minion took a break from working in the freezing weather to see what she was yelling at. ¡°Gah!¡±


    She growled at herself, before clarifying that, ¡°I am not abusing the DMs. They¡¯re born adults barring any programming upgrades I give them. They don¡¯t get tired, can¡¯t feel pain, or temperatures. Lastly none of them work more than six hours a day and that¡¯s not counting their days off, meaning they have a thirty hour work week tops!¡±


    (And yet they get no pay.) Her inner madness chided in disappointment.


    ¡°No,¡± she admitted, ¡°but they get a health plan that includes immortality, free body augmentations, and dental!¡±


    (But they don¡¯t even have teeth!)


    ¡°Just because they don¡¯t use it doesn''t mean it¡¯s not there!¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -DM-3 is now collecting Scrap.


    --Thanks to having Tools and being Dexterous, he gathers 3 Scrap each Turn.


    ---


    ¡°So¡­ Ying¡­¡± She began as soon as Ying sat at their lunch table.


    The other teen sighed, before giving her a look. ¡°You¡¯re not even going to wait five minutes?¡±


    Next to her Aisha looked fairly sheepish, while she on the other hand simply answered that, ¡°We both know I¡¯m too impatient to wait. You¡¯re lucky I didn¡¯t kick down your door for answers.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ would¡¯ve ended badly for everyone involved.¡± Ying grimaced, before running a hand down her face. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get this over with, ask away.¡±


    ¡°Well, obviously, who the hell was that Edna woman on Friday?¡± She asked as pointedly as she could.


    ¡°Miss Edna is¡­¡± Ying stopped before giving another grimace and sigh. ¡°Okay, so several years ago -back before¡­ everything- my dad signed me up for a summer camp thinking it would be good for me to get out and socialize with people¡­ outside of our class.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± She swallowed, realizing what Ying meant by everything.


    ¡°And you, uh, you know her from your¡­ summer camp?¡± Aisha figured, not aware of what else Ying was saying.


    ¡°Miss Edna is the head counselor and owner of the camp I ended up going to.¡± Ying continued, looking more comfortable moving past the previous landmine. ¡°And because of that I¡¯ve known her since I was a little girl. Even longer than I¡¯ve known you Maya.¡±


    ¡°You, um, you seemed close with her?¡± She noted, trying to figure out how not to put her foot in her mouth.


    ¡°Hmm, well, yes.¡± Ying nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll admit, she¡¯s always been something of a fun aunt I see in the summer, but we¡¯ve grown closer this last year or so.¡±


    ¡°Did¡­ something happen?¡± She asked.


    Ying was quiet for a moment, before explaining that, ¡°I¡¯m¡­ one of the last two ¡®long term¡¯ Campers she has. I¡¯ve been there eight, nine years now while everyone else has been there less than five. I¡¯m also technically a camp counselor, or I will be next year.¡±


    She was pretty sure there was more to it than that, but (that could just be me not knowing the whole story.)


    ¡°Huh, I¡¯m, uh, I¡¯m surprised your mom is letting you, um, work there.¡± Aisha admitted, nervous but still curious. ¡°Especially with¡­ how you talk about her.¡±


    Ying let out something too bitter to call a laugh. ¡°Yeah, she isn¡¯t getting a say in this.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but grimace at that as she began putting two and two together. ¡°I¡¯m uh, I¡¯m guessing your mom knows¡­ Edna is a Deviant?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ying inhaled deeply before exhaling. ¡°I¡¯ve made damn sure she doesn¡¯t know that.¡±


    A harsh silence fell over the three of them for a moment, before upon noticing Aisha gnawing on her lip the girl too nervous to voice her question, Maya decided to take mercy on the other girl and explain that, ¡°Ying¡¯s mom is¡­ anti-Deviant¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s one way to put it.¡± Ying scoffed, looking actually amused. ¡°My mother enjoys using our family¡¯s wealth to push a political agenda making life as difficult as possible for Deviants. In fact I think her little band of bitches is pushing an ordinance that would make it so that being a Practitioner would be illegal in the hopes of pushing it to a state level.¡±


    Normally, she wouldn¡¯t care about magic users but given the context she was pretty sure this was more important to Ying. ¡°Can they¡­ do that?¡±


    Ying considered it for a moment. ¡°They can put a license requirement on it due to it being a secondary Deviancy rather than an innate one, which could then be expanded to only allowing licensed magic users to operate at all. Or that¡¯s the plan that has been passed around all of those stomach churning fundraisers I¡¯ve been forced to attend.¡±


    (Right, since her mom is running them she¡¯d have to attend most of them, and if this Edna is like an aunt to her¡­) It wasn¡¯t a position she envied to say the least.


    ¡°But we¡¯re getting off topic.¡± Ying told them with a shake of her head. ¡°You wanted to know who Miss Edna was, and she¡¯s a seventy year old Arcane I¡¯ve known since I was nine. She¡¯s in town visiting her adoptive son, and decided to come and bug me into hanging out with them.¡± Ying tilted her head. ¡°Or rather she kidnapped me to make me hang out with them.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± She nodded, processing everything Ying had told her, which was significantly more than she¡¯d been expecting all things considered. (I guess¡­ everyone has their own lives, not just me.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya has a much better understanding of Ying¡¯s life.


    --Maya has grown a bit closer to Ying.


    -Maya gained 2XP to Politics.


    --Currently: Lv. 1 (3/4)

 Turn 82: Rushing Drone Improvements

    Turn 82: Rushing Drone Improvements


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Tell me, are you really giving this your all right now?¡± Anavi asked.


    ¡°Of course I am.¡± She panted, feeling exhausted after Anavi¡¯s little test on her tech-less fighting. (Which we suck at¡­)


    (It¡¯s less that we suck without our tech and more that all of our techless experience revolves around fighting a middle schooler.) Her inner logic corrected her.


    (Yeah, we¡¯d totally be kicking her ass if she was half our size!) Her inner Madness encouraged.


    With a nod to herself, she rushed forward to deliver a straight jab at the older woman¡¯s center of mass, only to end up flipped on her back as Anavi caught her punch.


    (Then again, we¡¯ve never really beaten Izzy in a fight¡­)


    ¡°Hmm, you¡¯ve drive yes but you¡¯re not really channeling your¡­ adrenaline, you call it here.¡± Anavit told her as she picked herself off the ground. ¡°When your heart starts beating you become faster, stronger, smarter but only as long as you can keep it beating. Let it slow and you won¡¯t keep up with those whose hearts beat stronger than your own.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, my heart''s beating pretty fast right now.¡± She argued, hands on her knees.


    ¡°Then you¡¯d be smart and use it, rather than talking about it.¡± Anavi chided her with narrowed eyes.


    (Is this what they call tough love, because I¡¯m not sure I like it.)


    ¡°Fine, you want me to use it?¡± She frowned as she stood up.


    ¡°Yes, I do.¡± Anavi nodded.


    Feeling her frustration building up, she threw a punch as hard as she could, not really caring if it hit or not before throwing another and another as Anavi slowly switched from dodging and deflecting her blows to blocking them.


    ¡°Good, keep going!¡± The older woman called before throwing a few light jabs at her side. ¡°Keep the adrenaline up, push past the pain, and hit harder.¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± She growled, throwing her entire weight into a punch that seemed to actually surprise Anavi for a moment, at least until the older woman twisted around her and once more swept her legs out sending her to the ground in a painful heap.


    ¡°Very good.¡± Anavi smiled down at her. ¡°I actually felt that last one, keep that up and you¡¯ll become a proper terror with those fists.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sure I will¡­¡± She groaned, trying to pick herself up only to collapse onto her back as she realized just how tired her muscles were.


    Seeing this Anavi grimace, ¡°Ooh, I should probably warn you, pacing yourself is just as important as going all out.¡± Anavi admitted, looking on with some concern. ¡°Maybe I¡¯m a little rustier at teaching than I thought¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya has gained the [Adrenaline Rush] ability as well as 1XP to [Fighting].


    --[Adrenaline Rush]: Costs (X) Stamina. Maya increases all Physical stats by (X) for the rest of this Round but then Decreases them by the same amount for the following round. This can be cast again in the Following Round to prolong the effect, but will prolong the debuff duration as well.


    --Currently: Fighting Lv. 8 (4/18)


    Tip: Higher Level Skills have more Perks on Anavi¡¯s training table. (Skills under Lv. 4 Don¡¯t have any Perks on the table.)


    ---


    (Out of all the tools we could build isn¡¯t this the least useful?) Her inner child whined in boredom.


    ¡°We¡¯re starting to run low on Plastic, giving the DMs the tools to work on that will restock us that much faster once we get them gathering it.¡± She reminded herself. ¡°Besides I don¡¯t get why you¡¯re bored we¡¯re working on little flamethrowers for them to slag the plastic.¡±


    (They already have little blowtorches to help them gather scrap.) Her inner child pointed out. (Meaning this is redundant.)


    ¡°Well these can cut and slag so¡­ there.¡± She told herself equally as childishly. ¡°Don¡¯t you get started too.¡±


    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    (Ahem.) Her inner logic coughed, (unsubtly) changing the subject. (Since we¡¯re just about done with this set of tools we can have the LCMs copy it for the other DMs. Meaning that if we¡¯re growing bored with this we can work on something a little more widely productive.)


    ¡°Such as?¡± She prodded.


    (Ooh, what if we gave the DM¡¯s their own little backpacks so they can carry more of whatever they¡¯re carrying!) Her inner Madness suggested.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not a bad idea.¡± She admitted with a glance towards her own Grav-Pak.


    Scene Consequences


    -Drone Minions upgraded to Mk. 1.5.


    --DMs will now gather (3*) instead of 1 when gathering plastics.


    ---*1 Base + 1 Tools + 1 Tools Perk.


    --Drone Minions can now be (individually) upgraded to Mk. 2.0.


    -Metal Working Lv. 5 (9/12)


    ---


    ¡°Okay, that should do it.¡± She decided, looking over the circuitry lining the walls of a metal container roughly the size of a tool box. Taking a small wire she connected the box to her COMP and ran some power through it, causing the circuitry to gain a neon glow.


    ¡°Alright, Grav Field seems to be holding.¡± She nodded, looking her scanner over. ¡°Just got to do a physical test now.¡±


    Tossing a couple of coins into the box and outside of it, she had her scanners determine how fast the two fell and happily noted that while the one outside of the box fell with an acceleration of 9.80665 meters per second squared the one inside of the box fell with an acceleration of 4.903325 meters instead.


    ¡°And we have now successfully created mini-grav packs for the minions¡­ or a minion.¡± She corrected, knowing that she was going to have to make more than one of these. (Or get the LCMs to make the other two.) (Really making them earn those food pellets today.) ¡°Regardless, this should help us double their gathering rates.¡±


    (Uh, you¡¯ve kind of forgot something.) Her inner Madness warned her.


    ¡°What am I forgetting?¡± She sighed, knowing that it was just like the voices in her head to wait until the exact moment she was done to tell her about some obvious flaw in her designs.


    (Pick up the mini-Grav Pack.)


    Seeing where this was going she did that and found that she couldn¡¯t help but frown at what she found. ¡°It¡¯s got a bit of heft but it¡¯s definitely within the DM¡¯s weight limits.¡± (So I don¡¯t see what the problem is.)


    (And what is the current weight limit of our Drone Minions?) Her inner reason asked.


    ¡°Like twenty, twenty-five pounds.¡± She shrugged, figuring that was pretty solid for something the size of a large cat.


    (To be more exact it¡¯s ten point seven three kilos or twenty three point six six pounds rounded.)


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± She nodded.


    (How much does the mini-grav-pak weigh?)


    She closed her eyes, her face scrunching up as she (finally) realized the problem.


    After a quick scan she answered. ¡°Ten point one four pounds.¡±


    (Or four point six kilos, converting to a net carry weight of twelve point two six kilos or twenty seven point zero four pounds depending on your method.)


    ¡°Meaning their carry weight has barely increased¡­¡± She groaned.


    (Well, at least they¡¯ll have an easier time carrying what they do gather?)


    Scene Consequences


    -Drone Minions upgraded to Mk. 1.6


    --DMs now get a +1 to gathering all resources.


    ---Currently: +2 for Organics and Electronics, and +4 for Plastics and Scrap.


    A/N: Realized outright doubling resource gathering was actually kind of broken, so I moved that to part of the [Scavenger Drone] evolution rather than giving it to all Drone types.


    -Electronics Lv. 6 (12/14)


    ---


    ¡°Alright, everyone this is your newest sibling, DM-3.¡± She introduced her latest little Drone Minion to her two older drones once everyone had been recalled to receive their latest upgrades. ¡°DM-3, this is DM-1.¡±


    Her first drone raised both his front legs into the air. ¡°Hello!¡±


    ¡°And this is DM-2.¡±


    Her second drone shyly waved a single leg. ¡°H-hi¡­¡±


    ¡°Greetings siblings.¡± DM-3 saluted to his older models.


    She took a step back to watch the DMs all interact in a series of mechanical microexpressions that she could just barely understand, the trio seemingly getting along well enough.


    ¡°Okay, now that you¡¯ve met your fellow Drones you can meet the LCMs.¡± She told DM-3 as she gathered her little critters together. ¡°These are the twins 1A and 1B.¡±


    1A gave a refined nod to DM-3 while 1B began waving his arms enthusiastically.


    ¡°And this is M2.¡±


    M2 clasped her hands together and gave DM-3 a half bow and what she was pretty sure was the LCM equivalent of a small smile.


    ¡°Greetings L.C.M.s.¡± DM-3 nodded back to the trio before skittering around to her again. ¡°Greetings done. Resume work?¡±


    She blinked. ¡°Uh, don¡¯t you want a break or something? Get to know the others?¡±


    DM-3 shook his head. ¡°Negative.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± She frowned.


    DM-3 nodded. ¡°Affirmative.¡±


    ¡°Okay, then¡­¡±


    DM-3 nodded once more before skittering his way out of the lab.


    (I suppose he¡¯s not one for parties.) Her inner reason mused.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess¡­¡±


    (Uh, did he just run off without his upgrades? In broad daylight?)


    ¡°Oh, sh- Fr- grr.¡± She grumbled, cutting off several curses as she caught sight of all of her (children) watching her. ¡°Um, I, I need to go get him.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -All Minions are now aware of each other.


    -System Update: Drone Hardware Upgrades will have their costs adjusted based on the number of DMs you have. (Finally realized using 2 Scrap to upgrade 3 minions makes no sense.)

 Nanowrimo Notice

    Just an announcement for anyone who hasn''t been reading the Author Notes. I''m not going to be updating this story for November because I am entering the Nanowrimo challenge with a new story called Hex City Devils, which despite lacking the tagline is part of the Deviant''s Masquerade Setting. As soon as the challenge is over I''ll get back to updating this and all of my other stories.


    For anyone curious, here''s the story synopsis I''m using:


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ---


    It was a normal day in the city.


    People were bustling, businesses were running, and life was living.


    Which is why no one expected it to happen¡­


    No one expected the chaos that would follow¡­The fear it would unleash as everything changed¡­The isolation it would leave behind in its wake¡­


    No one expected the walls to go up¡­ The men who became monsters overnight¡­ If the monsters ever were men to begin with¡­


    Then again given the lengths those same men went to protect their secrets Maybe they always were monsters?


    After all, there¡¯s a reason they would go on to call these people the Hex City Devils.

 Turn 83: A Success, A Failure, And A Work In Progress

    Turn 83: A Success, A Failure, And A Work In Progress


    --- Maya ---


    (I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m doing this¡­) She groaned internally as she stood outside of a door.


    (You know as well as I that our excursions to both the M.A.D. club as well as the fight club have proven just how valuable Deviant contacts can be.) Her inner logic told her.


    (It doesn¡¯t matter how valuable they are when they¡¯re filthy magic users.) Her inner passion pointed out.


    (Yeah, what she said!)


    Her inner reason let out a sigh as she once more had to bring up how, (You know that Anavi is one of these ¡®filthy magic users¡¯ you both are so against, correct?)


    (Well, we¡¯re hoping she¡¯s a filthy magic- gah!)


    (No! We¡¯re on the clock. Now is not the time for those kinds of thoughts!) Her inner logic denied.


    (Where the fuck did you get a spray bottle?!) Her inner madness hissed. (We¡¯re mental manifestations of Maya¡¯s mental instabilities!)


    (Just had to think about it, to make it happen.)


    (...)


    (Gah! Don¡¯t spray me with that!)


    Seeing that the voices in her head were devolving into another level of madness she turned her attention back to the world around her, more specifically the door she¡¯d been so reluctant to interact with.


    ¡°Fuck it.¡± She sighed, knocking on the door.


    It took a few minutes before a hefty kid in glasses answered the door. ¡°Uh, can I help you?¡±


    ¡°I came by like a month ago and there was this black haired boy with a lot of jewelry.¡± She tried to explain while not sounding like her teeth were being pulled out. ¡°He helped me with something and I wanted to tell him thanks.¡±


    The kid nodded before looking over his shoulder. ¡°Noah, it¡¯s for you!¡±


    ¡°Be there in a sec!¡± A voice called back as the large kid moved away from the door, allowing her to see several teens gathered in the middle of the classroom where a number of desks had been pushed together.


    From behind a DM screen the boy she was looking for -Noah- made his way over before giving her a once over and closing the door behind him. ¡°Alright, what¡¯s up?¡±


    It took her a moment but eventually she asked, ¡°You¡¯re an Arcane right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Noah nodded, his eyes narrowing a bit. ¡°That a problem?¡±


    ¡°No, no¡­¡± She assured him.


    (Don¡¯t lie. It absolutely is¡­) Her inner Madness growled.


    ¡°Look, I¡­ I¡¯m a Deviant.¡± She confessed, figuring that with Vi, Tommy, and the M.A.D. club all knowing it wasn¡¯t that big of a deal. (As long as no one figures out the Mask thing anyway.)


    ¡°Really?¡± Noah blinked, looking much more interested in this conversation all of a sudden. ¡°What kind?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ an M.A.D.¡± She admitted.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± Noah sighed as he lost all interest.


    ¡°No need to sound disappointed.¡± She told him feeling a little offended.


    ¡°It¡¯s whatever.¡± Noah shrugged. ¡°Now what is it you wanted exactly? I¡¯ve got a game to get back to.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± She frowned, not sure how she should react to his attitude. ¡°It¡¯s just¡­ you¡¯re the only other Deviant I know in this school, so¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Noah gave her another look before running his hand down his face. ¡°How long have you known you were a Deviant?¡±


    ¡°A few months.¡± She answered, even though it was closer to half a year in all honesty.


    ¡°So, still kind of fresh.¡± Noah nodded, looking like he was thinking about something before running a hand through his hair. ¡°Eh, fuck it. Give me your phone.¡±


    Her eyes narrowed even as she began reaching into her pocket. ¡°Why?¡±


    Noah rolled his eyes, before twisting his fingers and sending her phone flying from her hands and into his. ¡°Because I¡¯m going to give you my number. I¡¯m busy right now but you need someone to introduce you to the Deviant side of things.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± She blinked, not really sure if she needed that given how she already knew Decker and Anavi as well as the M.A.D. club, but at the same time she couldn¡¯t bring herself to protest given how this was kind of what she wanted.


    ¡°Here, call me this weekend and I¡¯ll introduce you to the Deviant side of the city.¡± Noah promised as he offered her phone back.


    ¡°Uh, sure.¡± She nodded, stunned as she took the phone back and realized, (Did¡­ did I just get a boy¡¯s number?)


    (Yes.) Her inner logic confirmed.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll see you this weekend.¡± Said boy told her before returning to the rest of his club.


    (No, no we will not! He¡¯s a filthy magic user!) Her inner Madness foaming at the metaphorical mouth.


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    (So is Anavi.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    (Are you sure you¡¯re the voice of reason?) Her inner passion scoffed. (She gets a pass because she¡¯s hot! He is not and thus does not!)


    Ignoring the screaming voice, she checked her phone for the first number from a boy -both outside of her family and her age- to be added to it. Which is how she found a new contact labeled, ¡®Sorcery Surpasses Science¡¯.


    ¡°That little bitch.¡± She was going to kill him.


    (Finally you see reason!) Her Madness applauded.


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya has unlocked Noah Delacroix as a contact.


    ---


    (Finally we¡¯re upgrading one of our programs, I was scared we were going to stay bronze tier forever.) Her inner impatience admitted as they began going over their Scan program.


    (Once you recall that we¡¯ve only been seriously working at our equipment for a few months now, you¡¯ll notice that we¡¯ve actually been proceeding at a fairly decent pace.) Her inner reason reminded her other self.


    (You sure it¡¯s only been a couple of months?) Her inner Madness asked. (It¡¯s felt more like three, three and a half years.)


    (It¡¯s been approximately that many months, not years.) Her inner logic confirmed.


    (Damn, that means it¡¯ll take like a decade to finish the rest of the year.)


    (No, it¡¯s November, the year ends in a month and a half.)


    (Wasn¡¯t talking about that year.)


    Getting fed up with the commentary from the voices in her head, she asked them if they could, ¡°Focus please?¡±


    (Ah, right. Apologies.)


    (I¡¯m not apologizing, our entire job is comedic relief. Without us your life wouldn¡¯t be half as interesting.)


    ¡°A, that¡¯s bullshit. I¡¯m a teenage mad scientist trying to become a superhero, I¡¯m plenty interesting. B, your job is to read the code and figure out the secrets within this maddeningly complex system.¡± She told herself. ¡°And given how we¡¯re trying to upgrade ourselves out of bronze tier, I need you to do your job.¡±


    (Fine, let me see what we¡¯re working with scrub.)


    ¡°I am not a scrub, also you helped write this shouldn¡¯t you already know what¡¯s in here?¡±


    (You have the attention span of a goldfish.) Her inner Madness pointed out. (Do you really expect any of us to remember upgrades from like two books worth of our lives?)


    ¡°I do not have the attention span of a goldfish!¡± She frowned.


    (The fact that that distracted you says you do~) Her inner child hummed, before (once more proving I¡¯m the smartest one here.)


    (A, don¡¯t interrupt the narration. B, logic dictates you¡¯re wrong.) Her completely unbiased inner logic argued.


    She snapped her fingers, before once more telling herself to. ¡°Focus!¡±


    (Right, right, okay¡­ let me see here¡­) Her inner passion mumbled as her eyes drifted across the sea of coding and mathematical equations. (Okay, basic stuff about scanning information provided by our scanner and Information Network. Some synchronicity with our Mapping program¡­ Ooh, that fun bit that turns the world into an RPG, though we need to improve that¡­ Okay, getting some ideas for upgrades¡­ Got some potential with our combat abilities if we tweak that¡­ We¡¯re nowhere near a good enough marksman to pull off that¡­ and we do not understand biology enough for that¡­ hmm¡­)


    She waited several minutes for the voice in her head to say something else or for the whispers to take off with what her other self was saying in a more technical way for her to actually start chipping away at the program upgrade.


    When neither spoke up she instead called out, ¡°What am I supposed to do next?¡±


    (Huh, what?) Her inner Madness stuttered awake. (I got distracted thinking about our character sheet in Deviant¡¯s Masquerade. You know like three fourths of our skills are under the combo threshold, even if we¡¯re a crafting class we¡¯re wasting a lot of potential there!)


    ¡°Gah!¡± She slammed her head against her keyboard. ¡°Pinche pendejo¡­¡±


    (Don¡¯t feel bad. Anyone could make that mistake.) Her inner idiot consoled her.


    (I feel like this is going to be a process¡­) Her inner reason admitted.


    Scene Consequences


    -Scan V2 begun.


    --Cannot begin other Scan upgrades until completed.


    --Current Progress: (2/4)


    -For starting your first V2 upgrade gained 1XP to Reality Hacking.


    --Currently: Lv. 6 (9/14)


    ---


    After wrangling her own Madness for several hours -and developing a Migraine felt by two thirds of her- Maya decided to shift gears for a moment, and focus on something that the more reliable of her alternates could assist her with.


    Namely, compiling the vast amounts of data her programs had gathered on Elizabeth¡¯s situation and where her daughter had gotten off to.


    (So we finally have some good news on this front¡­) Her inner logic assured her after an hour or so of going over everything. (One, when Elizabeth¡¯s family gave up the baby I believe they gave her to young Audrey¡¯s father. A James Meadows, he then proceeded to raise her in this city for the next sixteen years as demonstrated by a number of enrollment and medical papers at various schools and doctors. Admittedly, she seems to have no interest in social media but her school does report her still attending all of her senior classes at a high school in the south side of the city. More specifically the one we would be attending if not for our Scholarship.)


    ¡°Okay, yeah, that makes finding her significantly easier.¡± She nodded, looking at the school records that it was probably illegal for her information network to have acquired, including Audrey¡¯s current School ID.


    An ID with a pale dark haired girl with freckles, green eyes, glasses, and more of a grin than a smile. (She looks a lot like a smug Elizabeth with glasses.)


    ¡°So, all we¡¯ve got to do is get to this school and look for someone who matches this ID. Then we convince her to come see Elizabeth and set everything right!¡± She figured, having a fairly solid game plan.


    (Slight complication there.) Her inner reason warned her. (We can¡¯t actually cut school to do this because our school would call our parents and that would be bad.)


    ¡°Uh, right¡­ need to figure something out on that front¡­¡± She sighed, because her parents would want to know why she skipped school and what she was doing, which would escalate into all of her siblings wanting to know, and she doubted Vi and Tommy would be happy she was skipping school for M.A.D. stuff. (Well, Vi wouldn¡¯t, Tommy might if I made something cool enough as a distraction.)


    (Also, don¡¯t forget that introducing someone to their dead now ghost-zombie mother probably isn¡¯t a good idea.) Her inner logic added. (A mother who still expects her to be a toddler given how Elizabeth has behaved¡­)


    ¡°Yeah, that¡­ that would probably end in tragedy¡­¡± She grimaced, before forcing on a smile. ¡°But at the very least we¡¯ve got the actual end goal in sight! That¡¯s¡­ better than when we knew nothing!¡±


    (True.) Her inner reason conceded to that optimistic thought.


    Nodding to herself, she gave the files on Audrey Meadows another once over, and couldn¡¯t help but frown at a picture of the other teen and her father. ¡°James and Audrey Meadows¡­ why are those names so familiar?¡±


    Audrey by itself hadn¡¯t rang any bells for her, but tacking Meadows onto the end did¡­ something in her memory, James Meadows did twice as much. She just couldn¡¯t place her finger on what that something was.


    (Hey, uh, Izzy¡¯s friend Autumn¡­ isn¡¯t her last name Meadows?)


    She considered that for a moment, before it all clicked together. Including what her siblings had mentioned about Autumn¡¯s sister having a lot of family drama. ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya has discovered Elizabeth¡¯s daughter is: Audrey Meadows.

 Turn 83 (Pt. 2): Crime In Progress: Armed Robbery (I)

    Turn 83 (Pt. 2): Crime In Progress: Armed Robbery (I)


    --- Maya ---


    Deciding that she needed to clear her head a bit if she wanted to figure out a plan for how to deal with Elizabeth¡¯s daughter, she gathered her things together and took her bike out for a quick patrol around the warehouse district.


    It was on her way to this location that she was reminded of her least favorite part of being a hero, namely all the eyes that were on her as she drove through town. (At least there aren¡¯t too many people on the streets this late¡­)


    (I don¡¯t see the problem. People love Masks, ergo they love us!) Her inner Passion tried to encourage her.


    (That or it could be the blatant traffic laws we¡¯re violating.) Her inner reason pointed out. (I¡¯m pretty sure if we weren¡¯t a Mask we¡¯d have gotten a ticket by now.)


    (Ooh, that¡¯s another angle!) Her inner Madness agreed, before letting out a dark chuckle. (They fear us and our power. Revel in it, chica!)


    ¡°That seems like a bad idea when we¡¯re going the hero route.¡± She admitted.


    (So do the numerous traffic violations.)


    (You two aren¡¯t reveling in it¡­ Am I the only one who knows how to go mad with power these days?!) Her inner megalomaniac questioned.


    (I believe we¡¯re plenty mad even without power.) The other voice in her head dryly answered.


    (But the power makes it more fun!)


    ¡°That it do-¡± Her agreement was cut off as she heard the sound of gunshots in the air.


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    ¡°W-where¡¯d that come from?!¡± She half panicked, righting her bike from where it had begun to wobble when she jumped.


    (Forward and left at the intersection, eyes up for which side of the street.) Her inner reason broke down for her.


    ¡°R-right!¡± She nodded, speeding up as she followed those instructions.


    Turning the corner, her eyes darted around looking for the source of the disturbance. (Where is it? Where is it?)


    (Wait, that car there!) Her inner logic stopped her, her eyes locking onto an empty car, sitting in front of a store. (That one is still on.)


    (In this neighborhood? That¡¯s just asking to have your car stolen.) Her inner Madness noted.


    ¡°Or it¡¯s waiting to make a quick getaway.¡± She realized with a frown before pulling up next to the car.


    From within the store she could vaguely hear a lot of cursing and yelling as she made her way to the side of the door, unable to get a proper look inside the store from her bike. Peering through the windows covered in way too many posters she was able to make out two people with guns. One aimed at the cashier that was quickly loading money into a bag and the other looking far more distressed, hands at their head as they stood over a-


    Her heart stopped for a moment, before turning around to lean against the window in the hopes of calming herself down. ¡°Fuck, fuck, fuck!¡±


    (Oh, shit that was a¡­ was that a¡­? Oh fuck!) Her inner emotions panicked.


    (Now is not the time to panic!) Her inner reason reminded her. (There are people in danger, we need to stay rational!)


    (Rational? We¡¯re in danger! We need to run!)


    (No we do not. We¡¯ve fought Creeps and other Deviant threats we can handle this!)


    (But those Creeps didn¡¯t have guns and the fight pit has safety limits!)


    As the voices in her head bickered over whether or not panicking was a good idea, she made herself to push past her growing anxiety and once more peer through the window where she spotted a second whimpering civilian trying to get at the¡­ downed one, only to be forced back by the distressed shooter.


    She grit her teeth and inhaled before exhaling. ¡°Okay, you want to be a hero? This, this is how you be a hero.¡±


    (Correct.) Her inner logic agreed. (That said, we can¡¯t just rush in because people are in danger. We need a plan, and we need one fast.)


    ¡°Right, a plan. I can come up with a plan.¡± She nodded, steeling herself for what she was about to do.

 Turn 83 (Pt. 3)- Crime In Progress: Armed Robbery (I)

    Turn 83 (Pt. 3)- Crime In Progress: Armed Robbery (I)


    --- Maya ---


    ¡°Can¡¯t just rush in.¡± She told herself before using her COMP to try and scan out a map of the building, while also pulling up a schematic of it with her Informant Network.


    (How is this helping, they¡¯re both right there!) Her inner Madness -metaphorically- scowled.


    ¡°We need to know what¡¯s going on.¡± She told herself. ¡°Maybe there¡¯s something we can use to our advantage like hitting the breaker box or something.¡±


    (Perhaps, but given the state of the victim on the floor do we have the time for such?) Her inner logic wondered. (In fact, depending on how we handle the breaker we could be causing the store more damage than simply letting the thieves rob them.)


    ¡°Someone¡¯s life is in danger!¡± She hissed at herself.


    (Which is why we should prioritize helping them. We do have our serum injector after all.)


    (Blah! We can¡¯t just wait for them to leave, with that guy panicking who knows how long that¡¯ll take!) Her inner impatience growled. (Besides, heroes don¡¯t let the bad guys get away!)


    (Perhaps we could disable the car so that they don¡¯t then?) Her inner reason offered. (Then we wait for them to come out and ambush them away from the civilians.)


    ¡°We don¡¯t exactly have a subtle way of doing that¡­¡± She grimaced, realizing that all of her methods of disabling the vehicle were either very loud or very flashy. (Fuck, even a knife would be enough to slash their tires¡­)


    (What the Heavyweight lacks in precision it makes up for with power!) Her inner madness reminded her. (You wouldn¡¯t have killed those pinche Creeps at the hospital so easily with a flimsy little knife.)


    (Yeah, you¡¯d have to be half insane to take on a monster like that with a knife.) She conceded, even though it did nothing for her actual issues.


    Especially when she remembered that (Using the Heavyweight on a regular human will probably cause permanent damage.)


    (They¡¯re criminals. They shot someone so fuck ¡®em.)


    (Do we really wish to start our heroic career with such a violent turn?) Her inner logic wondered.


    ¡°Okay, okay¡­ can¡¯t turn out the lights without causing more harm than good. Can¡¯t use the Heavyweight without causing too much damage.¡± She banged her head lightly on the wall behind her. ¡°What does that leave?¡±


    Her eyes once more drifted to her COMP before she started shifting through her programs while running the numbers off of her Scan¡­ ¡°That might work¡­¡±


    She took one more glance at the state of the store and the robbers, before firing a Burst() of blinding light between the thugs quickly followed by a second Burst() of Sound, thus creating a makeshift flashbang.


    There were screams of shock and another gunshot that had her wincing and praying no one else got shot, before she stood, turned, and entered the store.


    Before either of the stunned thugs could react she tackled the closest one to the ground, causing his head to slam against the tile as they crashed into the ground, something that (hopefully) knocked him out.


    Knowing that the other thug -the one with the gun- was still a threat, she quickly raised her hand cannon at the man who had just begun to clear the shadows from his eyes as he aimed his gun in Maya¡¯s general direction.


    Not willing to risk letting him open fire, she unleashed a wave of sound from her cannon, unintentionally forcing the man to fire his gun for a third time.


    A loud bang tore through the store, somehow louder than her bursts of sound before she felt a sharp pain in her arm.


    Fearing the worst, her eyes darted to her arm as her heart began to pound in her chest.


    She couldn¡¯t help but stare at the cut on her arm, one that was largely superficial, barely a cut and significantly less harmful than the numerous scrapes and bruises she¡¯d given herself. And yet, as she stared at the faintly bleeding cut her mind, the world around her seemed to fade a bit as she realized. (I¡­ I was shot¡­)


    A nearby shifting had her eyes darting up and her hand cannon locking onto the movement, only to realize it was a tanned woman wearing a hijab. One that had frozen, staring at her with no small amount of fear.


    ¡°S-sorry¡­¡± She apologized, lowering her hand.


    Trying very hard not to think about the cut on her arm, she looked down at the man she¡¯d tackled, making sure that he was really knocked out before glancing at the other man -who had crashed through a glass plane and was currently sitting there unconscious surrounded by rolling cans- to do the same.


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    With that done, and no small desire to focus on how she was doing, Maya instead turned her attention onto the more pressing issue. One that she could actually do something about right now.


    The tanned woman flinched as she drew closer to the thug¡¯s victim -a teenage girl from what she could see- and Maya raised her hands in (what I hope is) a calming gesture. ¡°H-hey, it¡¯s okay. I¡¯m, I¡¯m just trying to¡­ help, I¡¯ve uh¡­ I¡¯ve got this healing serum¡­ thing that can fix¡­ a lot of damage.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t actually sure how much damage it would fix in regards to a bullet hole, given how she¡¯d never really tested it, but her simulations had shown that it could accelerate the natural healing rate to do a week''s worth of healing in a single day.


    The woman stared at her for a moment, her eyes darting to the girl, before nodding with a desperate look to her eyes, ¡°P-please help ibnaty, m-my daughter. How-however you can.¡±


    ¡°Right, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll have Ibnaty fixed up in no time.¡± She promised the terrified mother, doing her best to bluff through her own panic at the revelation that, (someone¡¯s life is in my hands¡­)


    The woman gave her a look before shaking her head and moving to give Maya more room, even as she held onto her daughter¡¯s hand.


    Nodding as much to herself as the mother, she reached into her kit and pulled out her serum injector before loading in her Healing Serum.


    ¡°Okay, now we just need to-¡± She froze as she actually saw the girl¡¯s face. (Oh, fuck¡­)


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± The mother asked her, beginning to panic. ¡°You-you can still help her, y-yes?¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah.¡± She forced herself to nod, even as her hands began to shake. ¡°She¡¯s just my¡­ age¡­¡± She admitted both the truth and a lie as she got on her knees to more easily use the injector.


    For a moment she thought her hands were shaking too much for her to use the injector, before voices began to whisper from the depths of her panicking mind. Knowing that she wouldn¡¯t be able to do this on her own she let the whispers take over, nudging her thoughts and movements with a surety that she absolutely did not feel herself.


    Her eyes moved around the store before she stood up and grabbed a couple of packages off a nearby rack.


    The mother asked her what she was doing but she was too far under to respond.


    Instead she set the injector down and opened the package she¡¯d taken with one hand and her teeth before removing the tweezers from their package and a spare herb from her kit, sticking the first into the girl¡¯s wound and ignoring the way the girl flinched in pain as she stuck the later in her own mouth, her hands instinctively adjusting to keep from damaging the girl any further.


    As she got a proper grip on the bullet, she picked her injector back up and aligned it to an artery in the girl¡¯s lower stomach with her offhand. Using a bit more force than she normally would, she drove the injector deep enough to actually reach the artery and adjusted the pressure she applied to the trigger to only use a fifth of the serum.


    With that done she removed the injector before lining up with another artery and repeating the process from several different positions around the girl¡¯s abdomen to optimize the serum flow to the bullet hole.


    Forty-three percent of the way through the third injection, her mind hit an internal counter and she removed the bullet just as the serum sealed shut the parts of the wound that it had been holding closed, before tossing it to the side and using her hand to pull out the herb she¡¯d been chewing on pressing the smallest amount of the sludge into the wound.


    Her saliva functioning as an antibacterial amplified by the herb, accelerating the internal healing process enough that she needed both hands to adjust the tweezers to slowly remove it, the left behind residue more than enough to prevent its own infection.


    With the wound largely taken care of, she used the bullet hole in the girl¡¯s shirt to tear a strip of cloth that she placed the rest of the chewed up herbs into before taking the pack of tape she¡¯d grabbed with the tweezers and taping it down over the largely closed bullet hole in the girl¡¯s stomach.


    She turned to the girl¡¯s mother and told her, ¡°She¡¯s out of critical condition and the wound is mostly taken care of. At this point her primary issue is blood loss and while I could fix that it would require someone donating it. It¡¯s more efficient if she gets a transfusion from the ambulance that -that once reported- should be here in approximately twelve point two four minutes given local traffic trends and response times.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, thank you, shukran.¡± The woman thanked her over and over again, before pausing as her look of concern slowly returned as she actually looked at Maya. ¡°Are-are you okay?¡±


    She ran a hand under her nose wiping away the blood that had begun to drip into her mouth. ¡°Minor neural overload, caused by excessive overclocking of cognitive functions. Common side effect of power usage. As long as it¡¯s used minimally no permanent damage will occur.¡±


    That explanation seemed to do nothing to relieve the worried mother.


    Unfortunately, she had other priorities at the moment and stood up, giving her patient one last glance over to make sure she was in stable condition before turning to leave. Her current emotional state being nonoptimal for dealing with law enforcement.


    As she passed them, she gave each of the thugs a kick to their head with the exact amount of force necessary to prolong their unconscious states without worsening their medical conditions.


    The clerk attempted to stop her but she ignored him as irrelevant and instead climbed onto her Tech Bike and proceeded to leave the scene and return to base before she could be detained by law enforcement.


    Once at base she proceeded to make her way to a section of the hospital none of her Minions would find her as worsening their own mental states would be sub-optimal for long-term post overclock recovery.


    With a suitable location discovered she sat down against the wall and inhaled before exhaling as the ever present whispers pulled back and she immediately threw up to her side as the stress of everything hit her.


    When finally stopped gagging she found that she couldn¡¯t stop shaking or steady her breathing, both things that only grew worse once she saw all of the blood drying on her hands.


    ¡°She-she¡¯s alive. She¡¯s okay. I s-saved her. I-I¡¯m alive and, and okay. We¡¯re-we¡¯re both okay¡­ we¡¯re both s-safe and okay¡­¡±


    Event Consequences


    -For using your programs to quickly defeat the two Thugs gained 1XP to Combat Hacking and Fighting.


    --Currently: Combat Hacking Lv. 3 (6/8) and Fighting Lv. 8 (5/18)


    -Due to witnessing ??? Maya¡¯s Sanity takes critical damage.


    -M.A.D. Trait Revealed: M.A.D. Survival Fugue.


    -Thanks to M.A.D. Fugue, Maya has gained 6XP to First Aid.


    --*Skill Level Up* First Aid Lv. 2 (3/6)


    -Trait Revealed:


    -M.A.D. Survival Fugue


    --This unit can forcibly raise the success rate of Mental or Reflexive Skill Check, at the cost of 1 Sanity for every point you add. All Social Checks suffer minimum auto-fail for Scene Duration.


    -Maya¡¯s Current Mental Health: [Very Poor]

 Turn 84 (Pt. 1): Building Madness And Upgrades

    Turn 84 (Pt. 1): Building Madness And Upgrades


    --- Maya Williams ---


    After the results of her extremely stressful patrol, Maya decided that it might be best for her to stay away from anything particularly stressful. Which for her was largely dealing with anyone until she quit seeing (blood drying on her hands as she stood over a dying body.)


    (I don¡¯t believe that¡¯s helping¡­) Her inner reason growled.


    (Look I just represent the subconscious Id do I look like I have any control over what happens over here?) Her inner Madness tried to argue. (You to do your logic rationale bullshit to help her sort this crazy out!)


    (That¡¯s your domain not mine.)


    (Yeah but your job is making shit all organized, so get this shit together!) Her inner passion ordered.


    (Why do you think I suggest compartmentalization so we can slowly work this out?) Her inner logic wondered. (These things take time!)


    Time that she was going to spend tinkering away on all of her gear until she could actually think without remembering (blood-) (Not helping!)


    For now she was focusing on a relatively simple upgrade to the battery of her Hand Cannons. Which while not offering too grand of a change to the weapons themselves was still something with no small amount of value in that it nearly doubled how many shots she could fire with each cannon before needing to reload them.


    Whatsmore thanks to the ever helpful LCMs she was able to preserve a portion of the electronics she¡¯d used for her initial batteries instead of just ripping out the whole thing and replacing it with an entirely new battery pack.


    After putting this new upgrade through its paces she found her mind drifting towards another upgrade for the cannons, one that could put this larger magazine to better use.


    Scene Consequences


    -Hand Cannons upgraded to Mk. 1.5


    --Hand Cannons can now store up to [5] shots each per reload. (That¡¯s 10 Max, with 2 Reloads.)


    -Thanks to Minion assist 2 Electronics Refunded.


    ---


    Like several times in the past, she found the whispers to be far more cooperative with this particular project than her usual ones for some reason.


    (You could almost say you rolled a maddeningly critical success¡­) Her inner madness offered with an oddly giddy tone.


    (It¡¯s more an accumulation of success than something so random.) Her inner logic argued.


    Regardless of what it was it allowed her to work significantly faster on her modifications to the Hand Cannon¡¯s Blaster Protocols().


    In their simplest state the Hand Cannons themselves were an energy storage and conversion engine that allowed her to more rapidly focus and unleash her more elemental hacking. The entire process still required the Protocols themselves to manage that conversion without detonating the cannons and blowing her hands off.


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    Which is why in order to control the actual output and build-up of her cannons she needed to tweak the program itself in such a way that she could charge up a more powerful conversion, that while consuming more ¡®ammo¡¯ from the cannon¡¯s battery packs would also allow her to unleash a significantly stronger use of that ammo.


    The cumulative damage would probably be less than her normal Hand Cannon bursts and shots, while taking longer to fire, but in exchange that blast would have enough power to rip through the defenses of whatever she hit. Or so the whispers told her with fairly convincing mental simulations.


    (Come on, we¡¯ve helped you build so many fantastical things. Do you really think we¡¯d lead you wrong?)


    (Given how reckless you can be, she should.)


    Scene Consequences


    -Blaster Protocols() upgraded to V. 1.5


    --Hand Cannons can now use [Charge Shot].


    ---Charge Shot: Maya can spend additional AP and Ammo to increase the power of any shot she fires. Charged shots have reduced Crit thresholds based on Charge amount.


    ---


    Even as she closed down her now completed program, the whispers didn¡¯t stop sharing their secrets. The technological knowledge that was so far beyond what most humans were capable of accomplishing on their own and so she found herself filled with and ever growing burst of eldritch inspirations.


    (Careful¡­ you¡¯re awfully close to the glass Maya¡­ One more step and you might start dancing to the Masquerade¡¯s mad melodies.)


    She shook her head, feeling a faint pulsing in her head from the more logical side of herself as it told her, (Guide the whispers, don¡¯t let them drag you down. You¡¯re not ready for that just yet.)


    (But she could be after all¡­ Sanity is overrated!) The shadows of the room seemed to dance and twist as her inner Madness cackled at the joke, one far more terrifying after the last few days. (Ah, don¡¯t worry¡­ it¡¯s worth it to be the smartest, to know what no one else does, isn¡¯t it?)


    (Find something you want done and get it done.) Her inner reason told her once more as she felt something crawling along the edges of her mind, masks made from eyes and smiles just waiting for her to finally take that step that would let the whispers speak. (You¡¯ve been through too much too soon¡­ You aren¡¯t ready. Try again when you¡¯re rested. For now work on something. Preferably something big.)


    (Oh, that¡¯s no fun. The abyss is staring and it has so much it wants to say¡­ You¡¯ve kept it waiting long enough haven¡¯t you, chica?)


    Deciding that she was better off listening to the less terrifying (and far more boring) voice in her head, she dove into her computer -the machine already within arm¡¯s reach- before finding one of her programs and reworking the thing from the ground up.


    At some point she felt the whispers in her head dim, less because the were no longer there and more because they were waiting for her to direct them. Her program coming to a crossroad much as her mind and sanity had, and unlike the latter she knew she wouldn¡¯t be allowed to simply walk away until she picked a proper direction for her mind to wander.


    With a blink she realized the program she¡¯d been working on was her Scan() one of her most generally useful programs, and one that she could see several paths for given the upgrades she¡¯d already given it as well as the one¡¯s she¡¯d already made. Ways to improve it by splicing in the bits of creation¡¯s code and the cybernetic secrets the whispers had passed along over the last few months tinkering away at whatever project caught her fancy.


    Down one route she could focus more on the data of reality, taking another step into quantifying reality itself down to the smallest of numbers as she understood things about the world that most others simply glazed over.


    Another would take what information she had and decrypt it even further, not cataloging it in numbers but rather evaluating it through softer more malleable sciences to read not the physical but rather the mental of those she Scanned.


    Or she could take things down the route where every variable that entered her space would be accounted for, even if she currently lacked the tools to parse through all of it, it would all be seen no matter how the secrets of reality tried to hide themselves away.


    Perhaps the safest option was to go with the route where she simply locked away all of the information she ever scanned, ready to go over it all at her own demented discretion as she discovered what was most valuable at a later date when she could reassess the known.


    The whispers of creation/reality/madness stood quiet, waiting for her decision even as they kept her from walking away before they could complete their current work.

 Turn 84 (Pt. 2): Demented Database, Depressed Deviants, And Missing Meadows

    Turn 84 (Pt. 2): Demented Database, Depressed Deviants, And Missing Meadows


    --- Maya Williams ---


    With barely a nudge of thought, the whispers took over once more as her mind and fingers began to move on their own, dancing across the keyboard and modifying Scan in the direction she¡¯d decided upon.


    All of the ideas presented to her had value, but it was the ultimately the Database upgrade that had the most long term value, because while some of the others might have more immediate use the Database upgrade would allow her to steadily improve upon and adapt to whatever she faced, if requiring a little more time and effort than what the other options offered her.


    Whatsmore, in spite of the fact that she¡¯d had to clear her various data caches prior to giving her base Scan some temporary memory, the whispers were able to somehow access and restore the information she¡¯d gained from her previous Scans, giving her Database a nice starting point with: Anavi, DJ Decker, those Husk Creeps from the fair, the Bloodhounds from the hospital, a number of the Gamer Guild¡¯s monsters, and even some of the creatures she¡¯d faced in the Bloody Ballroom. (Though I¡­ I don¡¯t think I actually scanned some of those¡­)


    (No need to thank us, we¡¯re aLwAYs WaTChinG after all¡­)


    Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the shadows sitting around the edges of her lab looked significantly darker than normal, and she couldn¡¯t help but swallow as a bit of anxiety filled her as the whispers began offering even more ideas as her eyes moved around the lab.


    (I think¡­ I think I need to get out of the lab for a while¡­)


    Scene Consequences


    -Scan upgraded to Database Scan() V 2.0


    --Maya now has a database that stores all Scans(), allowing her to more easily access similar scans. Additionally, Maya can devote an Action each turn to studying one of her Scans to unlock new inventions, studyable perks, and more. (This counts as a Build Action.)


    ---Note: Scan Database only records notable enemies and creatures, simply passing a unit will not register them. Due to gaining this upgrade via Version up, previously fought enemies have been added to the database. Future enemies may require multiple Scans depending on enemy Rank, and some enemy ¡®types¡¯ may have different variants out there.


    --Unlocked Scans:


    ---Masks: DJ Decker, BB: Andre The Orkin, Anavi.


    ---Boss Creeps: Bloodwolves, GG: Rat King, GG: Huntslizard, GG: Kobold Cultist


    ---Creeps: Husks, Bloodhounds, GG: Rat Beasts, GG: Kobolds, GG: Blitz Wolves, BB: Will-o-wisp, BB: Goblins, BB: Fairy, BB: Storm Wolves.


    ---


    Looking around the cafeteria her eyes fell on Ying sitting all alone with no Aisha in sight. (Well it¡¯s not like we were expecting to see her today¡­)


    She couldn¡¯t help but grimace at that thought.


    But instead of letting herself focus on it, she focused her attention on Ying who¡­ (is looking kind of rough¡­)


    With no small amount of concern she sat down across from her best friend. ¡°Hey, you¡­ doing okay?¡±


    Ying gave her an irritated glance before grimacing and letting out a sigh. ¡°Not particularly, but given how you¡¯re looking I doubt you¡¯re doing much better.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ been a rough couple of days.¡± She admitted.


    Ying let out a snort of amusement. ¡°Tell me about it.¡±


    ¡°Only¡­ only if you do the same?¡± She offered a little unsurely.


    Ying looked at her for a moment, before her eyes drifted to the side thinking about something. ¡°You mentioned something a while back about your brother, Tommy, being put under a Slaver effect, right?¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She nodded, her concern growing.


    ¡°While I was with Miss Edna I¡­ I was exposed to a¡­ cursed object that made me¡­ do things until Miss Edna and her son could restrain me.¡± Ying explained, looking extremely uncomfortable to be doing so.


    She frowned, pretty sure whatever Ying was talking about was significantly worse than drawing pictures like Tommy. ¡°What kind of things?¡±


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Ying swallowed, closing her eyes. ¡°I tried to¡­ assault a very good friend of mine, and I think I would¡¯ve hurt him¡­ very badly if he hadn¡¯t stopped me.¡±


    She grimaced, remembering that Ying was the kung fu equivalent of a black belt, and that if she didn¡¯t hold back she could bend Maya in half.


    ¡°He¡¯s¡­ okay, right?¡± She asked, knowing that it would be significantly worse if he wasn¡¯t.


    ¡°I think so¡­ Given how Jon¡¯s head is¡­ different, from others he might not have even realized what I was really trying to do¡­¡± Ying sighed, looking extremely guilty. ¡°Which makes the whole thing worse since I know he won¡¯t actually hold it against me, but¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re holding it against yourself?¡± She figured.


    Ying licked her lips, not quite meeting Maya¡¯s eyes. ¡°This¡­ this isn¡¯t the first time something like this has happened, and I¡­ I really did hurt him the first time it happened¡­ He won¡¯t admit it, but¡­ I¡¯ve seen him tense up when I make certain¡­ movements around him.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± She said, her mouth going dry as she tried to process that.


    ¡°What scares me is that this keeps happening, and every time it does I come closer and closer to hurting him again.¡± Ying continued, looking increasingly conflicted but unable to stop. ¡°What¡¯s more it¡¯s not just him, I know the last time this happened if the person we were with wasn¡¯t a Deviant I absolutely would¡¯ve hurt her, and I don¡¯t¡­ I don¡¯t know what to do¡­¡±


    She watched Ying sort of close in on herself, before realizing, ¡°You¡¯re scared of yourself¡­¡±


    Ying flinched as Maya hit the nail on the head.


    She bit her lip, not entirely sure what she could tell Ying, but knowing that she needed to say something. ¡°You know¡­ You know none of this is your fault, I mean just because you keep getting hit by Slaver effects doesn¡¯t mean that you¡¯re responsible for-¡±


    ¡°But I am.¡± Ying practically growled, glaring at Maya. ¡°If you knew the truth about¡­¡± Ying shook her head, before standing up. ¡°Forget about it¡­¡±


    As Ying walked away, Maya couldn¡¯t bring herself to stand up.


    Not because Ying was upset with her, but because¡­ (Ying¡¯s eyes were yellow¡­)


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya suspects Ying is a Deviant.


    ---


    ¡°Where are you off to?¡± She asked Izzy as her younger sister made her way to leave the house.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to Autumn¡¯s house.¡± Izzy answered with a shrug.


    (Autumn, as in the sister of Audrey Meadows?) Her inner logic reminded her.


    ¡°Uh, why don¡¯t I walk you over?¡± She offered, hopping off of the couch.


    Izzy gave her a look. ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I uh, just feel like stretching my legs.¡± She shrugged.


    Her younger sister narrowed her eyes, before relenting, ¡°I guess¡­¡±


    ¡°Great, then let¡¯s get going.¡± She smiled, not really feeling it.


    (Okay, so I get to the Meadows¡¯s house, where hopefully Audrey will be by now.) She told herself, trying to work out how she was going to do this.


    (Her school lets out at the same time as ours, and there¡¯s been plenty of time for her to make it home even if she had to walk.) Her inner reason assured her. (Whatsmore I doubt that she¡¯d have to do that, given how often Mr. Meadows gives Izzy a ride to our house.)


    (Right, okay¡­ so I just need to figure out how to broach the topic of¡­ her dead mom not actually being dead¡­ Fuck.) She ran a hand down her face. (I really need to work on that.)


    (Careful, the urban druid would strangle you in thorns if you don¡¯t improve.) Her inner Madness warned her, the odd tone still to its voice from the day previous. (I¡¯ll be riding this Madness high until the end of the Turn, hermanita¡­)


    Given all that happened with her whispers yesterday, all of that felt ominous for reasons she felt perfectly justified in.


    ¡°So are you going to tell me the actual reason you¡¯re following me to Autumn¡¯s?¡± Izzy asked, interrupting her thoughts about half way to their destination. ¡°You look like you¡¯re thinking about something pretty hard.¡±


    ¡°Uh,¡± She grimaced, realizing that her younger sister was obviously the one most likely to catch her in a lie, before deciding to tell a half-truth, ¡°I heard Autumn had a sister about my age and I thought¡­ maybe we could hang out?¡±


    Izzy snorted. ¡°You¡¯re trying to be sociable?¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m plenty sociable!¡± She frowned. ¡°I¡¯ve made like¡­ ten friends in the last couple of months!¡± Admittedly she didn¡¯t actually consider two of those people her friend, part of her wanting to kill them, and half of that number were actually her minions, (but none of that really matters!)


    Izzy narrowed her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t believe you.¡±


    ¡°Where do you think I spend all my time away from the house?¡± She wondered.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, holed up in some dark room like a hermit.¡± Izzy told her going straight for the throat.


    ¡°That¡¯s not¡­ entirely true.¡± She grimaced, since that kind of was what she did most of the time. (Hey, I have the minions at least.)


    Izzy smirked smugly before shaking her head. ¡°Either way, even if you really were trying to be friends with Audrey, she doesn¡¯t live with the rest of her family.¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t?¡± She frowned with a bit of concern.


    ¡°Yeah, there was¡­ a thing last year, and she moved out.¡± Izzy explained, without really looking at Maya. ¡°She still comes around to check on Autumn every once in a while but she calls more than she actually visits.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­¡± (That complicates things¡­)


    Scene Consequences


    -Maya is now aware that Audrey does not live with the other Meadows and has some kind of family ¡®issue¡¯ with her dads.

 Turn 85 (Pt. 1): Meeting With Noah Delacroix

    Turn 85 (Pt. 1): Meeting With Noah Delacroix


    --- Maya Williams ---


    Having received a text message from her newly named contact ¡®The Magical Mierde¡¯ she was walking around one of the numerous paths in the park to try and find him, a task that took her far longer than she liked given how deep in the park he¡¯d set himself up.


    ¡°So you showed up.¡± Noah noted as he looked up from the book he was reading.


    ¡°You told me to meet you here.¡± She pointed out while gesturing to the park around them. ¡°And what does this place have to do with ¡®the Deviant side of things?¡¯¡±


    ¡°Little bit of this, little bit of that.¡± Noah shrugged as he closed his book and hopped off of his stone perch. ¡°We could¡¯ve met up at the Witch¡¯s Wares, but given how you¡¯re an M.A.D. and those people know where I live¡­ I decided it was best to side step all of that.¡±


    ¡°Side step what?¡± She growled while narrowing her eyes.


    Noah snapped his fingers and pointed at her. ¡°That, you M.A.D.s tend to be a volatile bunch and if you burned the shop down well¡­ that wouldn¡¯t go over well for any one. Me especially.¡±


    ¡°So you brought me to a park?¡± She reiterated.


    ¡°This park is a Deviant hotspot if you know what to look for. For instance the city Arcane meet here whenever we need a truce. There¡¯s enough escape routes in every direction that no one can really get locked down unless they¡¯re stupid.¡± Noah explained, before giving her a curious if condescending look. ¡°You said you were pretty new to the masquerade, do you know anything about all of that?¡±


    She considered what was safe to tell him before eventually admitting that, ¡°I joined an M.A.D. club.¡±


    ¡°And they didn¡¯t tell you anything about the Deviant side of things?¡± Noah frowned before shaking his head. ¡°Wait, I know who you¡¯re talking about. They¡¯re that hobbyist group that runs that science museum or something.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± She nodded, wondering if she should feel offended. ¡°That¡¯s them.¡±


    (Obviously, you should be offended by the filthy magic user¡¯s very presence.) Her inner madness assured her. (Punch him!)


    ¡°Makes sense none of them would tell you anything then, since none of them are really on the level of the Masquerade.¡± Noah huffed, looking amused.


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± She wondered, leaning towards that offended feeling.


    (Do it!)


    ¡°There are three layers to the Deviant¡¯s Masquerade.¡± Noah explained, tapping his fingers against the cover of his book before throwing them to the side causing a small swirl of fog.


    ¡°First are the hobbyists, those people who just happen to be Deviants.¡± A double of her wearing an M.A.D. club shirt appeared. ¡°These are the people who could quit being a Deviant and it wouldn¡¯t change too much for them.¡±


    ¡°Then there are those who live and breathe the life of a Deviant full time.¡± A (cute) girl with green hair, yellow eyes and pointed ears appeared. ¡°These people actually make a living by being a Deviant, their Deviancy a part of their very livelihood and culture.¡±


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°And of course we have the actual Masks, who don¡¯t just live the life of Deviants but actively revel in it.¡± This time a tanned young woman wearing a Mask and a blue outfit appeared. ¡°People to whom being a Deviant is more important than whoever they are beneath the mask.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Terraform, right?¡± She checked, because while she¡¯d never met the hero herself she¡¯d still be an idiot to not know one of the town¡¯s biggest stars. (Especially when Vi dressed up as her for Halloween.)


    ¡°Yeah¡­ you¡¯ll find if you meet her in person, that like I said, being Terraform is more important to her than the girl beneath the Mask.¡± Noah sighed, before snapping his fingers and causing all three figures to dissipate. ¡°Not that it matters since as you said you fall into the hobbyist category.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that?¡± She asked him, not really sure how to feel given how he talked about the town hero. (I¡¯m not like that¡­ I won¡¯t be like that.)


    Noah gave her a considering look, his eyes flashing blue for the briefest moment. ¡°Tell me, what¡¯s your greatest fear as a Deviant?¡±


    Her mind flashed back to (a bag fell over her head as hands dragged her into a van and her things fell to the ground, her screams muffled.)


    ¡°Being kidnapped for being an M.A.D.¡± She answered, not entirely sure why she did.


    Noah blinked as if surprised by her confession, something she couldn¡¯t help but mirror just as surprised that she¡¯d said it given how¡­ hard she¡¯d been trying to avoid that particular memory.


    The other teen broke their staring contest first, something¡­ guilty to his expression. ¡°If you want to avoid that you¡¯ll either have to be a hobbyist too weak to bother with, or a Deviant so strong they¡¯ll be scared to go after you.¡±


    She inhaled, forcing down whatever¡­ feelings that memory had dredged up and instead focusing on the burning (rage) she felt at the idea that someone would think her weak enough to do that. ¡°I know.¡±


    They were both quiet for a moment before Noah ran a frustrated hand through his hair. ¡°Damn it, I didn¡¯t mean for this to be so serious¡­ I was just trying to do something nice for a newbie¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I didn¡¯t mean for this to¡­ go that way either.¡± She agreed, feeling¡­ off.


    ¡°Alright, you¡¯re¡­ a little more serious about this Deviant thing than the other hobbyists at that club.¡± Noah admitted with a grimace. ¡°If you want me to, I can still answer any questions you have about being a Deviant¡­ I, uh, I owe you that much for all of¡­ this.¡±


    ¡°Given how we barely know each other¡­¡± She wasn¡¯t sure she agreed.


    ¡°No, trust me¡­ I owe you one or else I¡¯ll be feeling like an asshole all week.¡± Noah admitted looking pained. ¡°Just¡­ just ask me anything that comes to mind and I¡¯ll do my best to answer. I may not be an actual Mask but¡­ I¡¯ve interacted with enough of the city¡¯s Masks and Hunters that I probably know more about the masquerade than most other Deviants in the city.¡±


    She considered that for a moment, not really sure what to do given how she could recognize her emotional state was a little¡­ out of sorts.


    (This is what we came here for.) Her inner reason reminded her. (While we might not be able to outright state that we are a Mask, especially given his stance on them, he is still far more connected than us within the community.)


    (If he¡¯s actually that connected.) Her inner instincts chimed. (I don¡¯t know what it is but he¡¯s definitely hiding something. Maybe he¡¯s not connected as he claims?)


    (You¡¯re just on edge because he¡¯s a magic user.) She thought to herself, not really willing to put much effort into the whole magic vs. science thing at the moment.


    (It¡¯s not just that¡­ something¡¯s off about him.) Her inner paranoia insisted.


    (Regardless, this is an opportunity we shouldn¡¯t squander.) Her inner logic argued. (Honestly, Decker is the only one we know more capable of answering our questions without drawing too much attention and even he said we need to make more contacts within the Masquerade.)


    That was a point she couldn¡¯t really ignore given how she¡¯d already used her ¡®Favor¡¯ with Decker and there was no telling what the gang lieutenant would ask of her for another.


    She bit her lip as she considered it for another moment before finally opening her mouth and asking her first question.

 Turn 85 (Pt. 2): Deviant Questions Between Teenage Deviants

    Turn 85 (Pt. 2): Deviant Questions Between Teenage Deviants


    --- Maya Williams ---


    ¡°Do you¡­ do you know if there is anyone kidnapping M.A.D.s right now?¡± She already knew the answer, but¡­ given how she¡¯d already (for some reason) admitted that was her greatest fear she figured that was the best place to start.


    ¡°Actively? No.¡± Noah told her in a way that said he was trying to be reassuring. ¡°Kidnapping Deviants¡­ it¡¯s a thing, but none of the Deviant gangs here are involved in human trafficking. The closest you¡¯ll find is Covenant and their supernatural brothels.¡±


    ¡°Supernatural¡­ brothels?¡± She repeated slowly.


    The other teen blinked before looking away as his face gained some color. ¡°Uh, yeah¡­ they uh, supposedly summon succubi and¡­ stuff¡­ supposedly¡­¡±


    ¡°Supposedly?¡±


    (Supposedly interesting~)


    Noah coughed, still not meeting her eyes. ¡°That¡¯s what people say, and um, the, the point is that none of the Deviant gangs I know are going to kidnap you! They¡¯re shortsighted assholes but they¡¯re, they¡¯re not monsters.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She frowned. ¡°I mean, do you really know no one in the gangs would pull something like that?¡±


    ¡°If they did it would be some crazy breaking their gang¡¯s creed.¡± Noah explained, before elaborating that, ¡°The Gamer¡¯s Guild is all about turning life into a game, half their people aren¡¯t even criminals and are basically just sports fans. Kidnapping people is too¡­ real for their stuff, especially since the GM was kidnapped as a kid and her siblings saved her.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ and what about the other gangs, like Covenant?¡± She continued to press.


    ¡°Covenant¡¯s entire brand is being a blackmarket for things the cops don¡¯t like, but people want. I¡¯m sure that would normally include¡­ kidnapping, but hiring interdimensional prostitutes is cheaper and safer since they can disappear and reappear with the snap of a finger.¡± Noah emphasized this point by making a black book appear and then disappear from his hand. ¡°Other than them are those battle nuts in the Mad Dogs, and they¡¯ve no interest in anything but fighting.¡±


    (The Mad Dogs¡­ that¡¯s the group that Anavi works for, right?) She¡­ didn¡¯t actually know enough about them outside of Anavi to make a judgment call.


    (And she¡¯s hot, so she can¡¯t be evil. Though¡­ she is a magic user¡­)


    Ignoring the voice in her head, she instead asked about the one other gang she knew, ¡°What about the uh, the South Market Enforcers?¡±


    ¡°The who?¡± Noah frowned, reminding her that (the South Market Enforcers were a suspected gang, not a publicly known one.) ¡°Is that one of the smaller gangs? There¡¯s a bunch of those in town, they might be big in your neighborhood but trust me they aren¡¯t big as far as the city is concerned.¡±


    ¡°So there¡¯s¡­ there¡¯s no one trying to pull an Asylum?¡± She checked, fairly certain that Noah knew nothing of worth about this.


    ¡°No. And trust me, if anyone was trying that the Heroes Guild and my- The Night Raven would shut it down.¡± The other teen assured her.


    ¡°The Night Raven?¡± She repeated. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know that hero?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s uh, she¡¯s not a hero.¡± Noah admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. ¡°She¡¯s a¡­ sleeping dragon¡­ She retired after the Rift Riots, but¡­ she¡¯s still probably the strongest Deviant in the city.¡±


    Maya bit her lip for a minute as she tried to think of some other faction in the city that might be causing trouble. ¡°What about¡­ Sanctuary, I know they¡¯re not as bad as Asylum but¡­¡±


    Noah let out a huff of annoyance. ¡°They¡¯re still a bunch of racist assholes that want to stick their noses in any Deviant business and trying regulate shit they don¡¯t¡­¡± The other teen trailed off before looking at her and taking a deep breath that he slowly let out.¡°But as much as I don¡¯t like them, we need them just like we need cops on the street. They¡¯re assholes but they¡¯re also invaluable during stuff like the Halloween Haunt. Probably more so than the Hero¡¯s Guild, even if just because of how many of them there are.¡±


    ¡°The Halloween Haunt?¡± She frowned, before realizing. (That¡¯s probably the Creep invasion Decker warned us about.)


    ¡°A¡­ yearly Deviant problem involving a supernatural that, uh, just follow the curfew next Halloween and it won¡¯t be a problem.¡± Noah assured her with a pained expression. ¡°I don¡¯t suppose you have any questions that don¡¯t revolve around kidnapping and monsters? Because if you want rumors and horror stories you¡¯re better off just looking them up on the internet.¡±


    She thought about it for a moment, letting her mind wander before voicing the first question her inner Madness could come up with. ¡°Can animals be Deviants?¡±


    Noah let out a snort of amusement at the sudden topic change. ¡°Yeah, sure. They¡¯re just super rare¡­ unless you make them.¡±


    ¡°Make them?¡± She blinked, her mind immediately going to her various minions.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s an old practice where¡­ Here let me show you.¡± Noah made several gestures with his hands causing a black swirl of shadows to erupt between his hands before collapsing into the shape of a black cat with yellow-green eyes. ¡°This is Nyx the cat, my familiar.¡±


    ¡°Aw, aren¡¯t you a little cutie.¡± She cooed at the little cat as it began to preen.


    (Pet the kitty!)


    ¡°She is.¡± Noah agreed, petting the cat that proceeded to hop onto his shoulders and lounge there. ¡°She also is magical because of my magic infusing her, and a few¡­ enchantments my mom taught me, essentially making her an Arcane Cat.¡±


    (Kill the kitty!)


    To emphasize this point, Nyx turned into a black blur that shot to the side before returning and weightless reappearing on her shoulder.


    .¡°Huh, I wonder if there are any M.A.D. animals?¡± She wondered, running a hand through the cat¡¯s fur.


    (She¡¯s so soft! But she¡¯s mag~ick!)


    ¡°Maybe, but I doubt they can get much done without opposable thumbs.¡± Noah shrugged.


    With both of them in a slightly better mood as they played with the magical cat on the ground between them, she asked the other teen, ¡°Is there anything you think I should know about this whole Deviant thing?¡±


    Noah ran a hand through his hair. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know. It kind of depends on what you want to do I guess. I mean, as long as you don¡¯t get in their way most of the Deviant gangs are harmless, or at least more harmless than the street gangs, and honestly most of my stuff is about magic and junk¡­¡±


    She remembered something Decker had told her, something that sort of tied into another plan of hers. ¡°What if I wanted to¡­ sell some of my stuff? Like my M.A.D. stuff?¡±


    ¡°That¡­ would depend on what kind of stuff you can make?¡± Noah admitted, seeming to actually consider it. ¡°Like what¡¯s your specialty? Tech, Biology, or¡­ the dead stuff.¡±


    (Don¡¯t tell him we¡¯re the fourth kind.) Her inner logic (needlessly) interrupted.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    (It¡¯s not like he¡¯d know what the fourth kind of M.A.D. was.)


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ a bit of both, Technology and Biology I mean.¡± She hastily added. ¡°If I specialize one way or the other¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, your specialty doesn¡¯t matter so much as what you make, I guess.¡± Noah rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about it. ¡°If¡­ you¡¯ve got some¡­ chemical stuff, my family can maybe sell it at our store as a potion, but you¡¯d have to impress my mom on that. And while she¡¯s not as good at potions as my aunt Edna she¡¯d still have a high bar to let someone outside of the family into the shop.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ any other ideas?¡± She asked, not sure how she felt about selling her chems as ¡®potions¡¯ especially when she didn¡¯t have that many of them.


    ¡°Well I mean you could make Deviant toys I guess, those tend to sell with tourists and kids but my mom is an enchanter and that¡¯ll be even harder to impress her on.¡± Noah warned before thinking about it. ¡°Given how¡­ popular our store is with some Hunters, if you¡¯ve got something interesting I could middleman you there¡­ for a cut.¡±


    She glared at the other teen. ¡°A cut?¡±


    Noah didn¡¯t even flinch, instead giving an unimpressed glare of his own. ¡°Answering questions is easy, getting someone to buy something is a lot harder.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough¡­¡± She eventually relented, since he would be doing her a solid in that case. (I¡¯ll just¡­ have to figure out whether or not he¡¯s ripping me off¡­ somehow¡­)


    ¡°Anyway, from there it¡¯s basic marketing. Sell enough stuff and it¡¯ll get easier to sell more as your reputation grows.¡± Noah assured her. ¡°As long as your stuff is good enough to sell anyway.¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but scoff at the very idea that her stuff wasn¡¯t good enough to sell if she wanted to. ¡°Yeah, that won¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    Noah rolled his eyes. ¡°Well, there¡¯s the infamous M.A.D. arrogance.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not arrogance if you can back it up.¡± She argued with a growl.


    The other teen raised his hands in surrender. ¡°We¡¯ll see. You got anything else you want to ask?¡±


    She considered it, going over what she could think about tossing aside any questions that she felt would touch a little too closely on the secrets she wanted to keep before thinking about one that Noah was already aware of¡­ if tangentially.


    ¡°Hey, um, you uh, you remember why I went looking for you¡­ the first time?¡± She asked after a moment.


    Noah frowned in thought. ¡°Um, your brother needed help with something, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, a magic user whammied him with a Slaver effect¡­ We paid a Hunter to fix him and he¡¯s better now but¡­ that doesn¡¯t really solve the actual problem¡­¡± She tried to explain.


    The other teen gave her a look before eventually sighing. ¡°The magic user that enslaved him is still out there, and you''re worried they¡¯ll get him again.¡±


    ¡°Uh, yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°Most Hunters wouldn¡¯t stop at just fixing your brother, they would¡¯ve also tried turning the one who caused it into Sanctuary¡­ There¡¯s a standing bounty on Slavers like that.¡± Noah told her. ¡°Who did you guys get exactly?¡±


    ¡°My parents called Hack & Slash, a man and a woman showed up¡­ a magic user and a psychic, I think?¡± She answered, trying to remember as much as she could about the event almost two months ago.


    ¡°Right, those guys¡­ They¡¯re fairly new to town, don¡¯t actually know that much about them¡­ especially since I¡¯m pretty sure they¡¯re using Covenant as their supplier rather than my family.¡± Noah frowned, thinking it over, before asking, ¡°What exactly happened with them?¡±


    She bit her lip. ¡°They said¡­ he¡¯d gotten hit by a¡­ focusing charm of some kind, and had it all fixed in¡­ maybe twenty minutes total.¡±


    Noah pet Nyx as he thought about the problem. ¡°Well, that would explain why they didn¡¯t follow up at least.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°A focusing charm isn¡¯t technically a Slaver effect in the¡­ harmful sense.¡± Noah explained. ¡°It¡¯s a way of maintaining focus and allowing faster thought processes, it¡¯s¡­ basically it¡¯s the magical equivalent of adderall, just¡­ not an actual drug. A lot of Arcane and Practitioners have their own versions of it, honestly we pop those spells like candy¡­ or that might just be my family¡­¡±


    ¡°Okay, but that doesn¡¯t explain why he was obsessed with drawing that one girl.¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Well, if it was a girl, then she might¡¯ve hit him with it trying to make a non-invasive love spell.¡± Noah suggested with a shrug.


    ¡°A love spell?!¡± She growled.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Noah nodded. ¡°Technically illegal, but maybe not depending on how she did it. I mean if it was an actual love spell it would¡¯ve been a Slaver effect, which those Hunters would¡¯ve been all over but because it wasn¡¯t. It technically isn¡¯t illegal since it would¡¯ve just made him notice her more than usual for a couple of days before fading.¡±


    ¡°But it didn¡¯t fade!¡± She practically yelled. ¡°It lasted for weeks of him drawing the same girl over and over again!¡±


    ¡°Meaning whoever this is, she screwed up and overcharged it¡­¡± Noah sighed.


    She inhaled before exhaling and deciding that, ¡°I¡¯m going to kill this bitch.¡±


    (Yes! Finally you choose the correct response to dealing with a magic user!)


    ¡°What?¡± Noah blinked, before suddenly jumping and sending Nyx into alert. ¡°No! Bad idea! No offense but Arcane are a lot more dangerous than an M.A.D. when you pick a fight. You guys may be better at like¡­ equipment and bases and junk, but we¡¯re better at spontaneous fights. In fact, pretty much every other Deviancy is better in a straight fight than an M.A.D. You can¡¯t just¡­ rush into a fight because you¡¯re angry!¡±


    (You know, barring our equipment, he is right about this.)


    (No he¡¯s not. He¡¯s a filthy magic user, so clearly he¡¯s wrong about this like every other choice he¡¯s made in his life.)


    Ignoring them, she disagreed with Noah, telling him that, ¡°Nah, I¡¯d win.¡± After all, all she had to do was bring her Hand Cannons and fire it point blank into the bitch¡¯s face.


    (Hey, narrating is my job!)


    ¡°Okay, okay, um¡­¡± Noah looked her in the eye. ¡°Do, do you know where this girl is?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a pretty good idea.¡± She admitted, before frowning. (Why¡¯d I admit that?)


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not good.¡± Noah told her. ¡°You know if you attack her she can claim self-defense, right? The, the focusing charm is just circumstantial or maybe that¡¯ll make it premeditated on your part since you had to find her¡­ Fuck, this is not how I saw this conversation going.¡±


    ¡°Does your family¡¯s store have anything that can heal injuries?¡± She asked the panicking boy.


    ¡°Uh, yes, but¡­ I¡¯m not going to let them sell it to you!¡± Noah yelled looking increasingly frazzled.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I won¡¯t need it.¡± She had her own healing serums if it came down to it. ¡°I just need to figure out how to get my tech to disrupt her stupid magic.¡±


    With that plan in play she turned to leave the park.


    ¡°You um, you need a magic user to help you on that!¡± Noah suddenly told her as he moved to follow. ¡°So given how I¡¯m the only magic user you seem to know, that means you have no one to stress test your tech. So why don¡¯t we take violence off the table for now, I mean, have you ever been in a fight before?¡±


    ¡°My sister taught me self-defense and she¡¯s got like an MMA black belt.¡± She answered, pointedly not mentioning how Izzy was her younger sister.


    ¡°Look there¡¯s a difference between fighting a monster and fighting a teenage girl, one is okay and the other is not.¡± Noah tried to reason with her.


    ¡°So as a teenage girl going after the monster who tried to roofie my brother, I¡¯m in the clear.¡± She nodded, glad that he was finally getting the picture.


    Instead of accepting this reasoning, Noah let out a frustrated groan while mumbling, ¡°Stupid, crazy, M.A.D., gah!!¡±


    ¡°Wait, wait.¡± Noah stepped in front of her. ¡°Okay, I¡­ completely disagree with you beating the shit out of someone but if, and I mean if you insist on going after this girl¡­ at least let me come with you.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± She frowned, fully aware that his reason was something along the lines of, (Please, don¡¯t murder anyone.)


    ¡°Um, uh¡­ if she¡¯s got a focus charm¡­ then she might be able to do something to your mind to¡­ mess you up and¡­ do to you what she did to your brother, which¡­ he would not want to happen.¡± Noah clearly pieced together as he spoke. ¡°So, I can go with you and disrupt whatever she tries to pull on you.¡±


    She paused for a moment as she gnawed on her lip, aware that (picking a fight with someone who can manipulate your mind is bad, having someone who can snap you out of it is a good idea.)


    ¡°Fine¡­ I¡¯ll think about it.¡± She finally conceded. ¡°But I¡¯m still going to find someone to punch today.¡±


    ¡°Might I recommend Tru Grit¡¯s Fight Pits, they¡¯re just filled with violent nutjobs like you.¡± Noah suggested, with no small amount of derision as he finally gave up on trying to convince her not to hospitalize someone.


    (Oh, I completely forgot about my tournament!)


    (We¡¯re going to slaughter them all!)


    (I was really hoping we could take a step back from the murderous thoughts.)


    (No, no.) ¡°I¡¯m going to slaughter them all.¡± She was in that kind of mood.

 2024 Patreon Quest Demo 1 of 3 (Simon Lorde, The Overlord)

    Simon Lorde, The Overlord (An Isekai Overlord Quest)


    -Synopsis: The Overlord is an infamous figure who has risen and fallen numerous times throughout history, conquering kingdoms, kidnapping princesses and unleashing an army of monsters.


    Simon Lorde is an archeology professor who wants nothing to do with any of that, he''s content being a teacher, the only princess he''s interested in is his wife, and the only monsters he unleashes are on D&D night.


    Unfortunately, he''s now woken up in world simultaneous very familiar and very foreign with no idea how he got here, a magic gauntlet on his arm that won''t come off, and half a dozen bickering overlords talking inside of his head.


    -Tags: [Voices In Your Head], [Kingdom Building], [Multiple Fantasy Kingdoms]


    Simon Lorde, The Overlorde


    Prologue: An Innocent Mistake


    --- Simon Lorde ---


    In his hands was a metal gauntlet with a large gem embedded in the back, the artifact far more intricately detailed than something of its age had any right to be, the metal having survived millenia without any form of rust, wear, or tear upon its surface.


    ¡°Oh, come on, it¡¯ll be fun!¡± Annabelle, a brown haired woman with glasses, egged him on with a grin from where she sat beside him.


    ¡°I doubt it¡¯ll be that fun.¡± He argued despite the slight smile on his face, something that he was rarely without while in his wife¡¯s presence.


    ¡°Look, you''re handing it over to the university in a week, and we¡¯ve got a D&D game tomorrow night. You¡¯ve got to wear the King¡¯s Hand, it¡¯ll make the whole thing so much more epic!¡± Annabelle explained for what had to be the third time.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t we a little old for dress up games?¡± He asked.


    His wife gave him a look.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant!¡± He told her, his laughter quickly joined by her own.


    After a moment he shook his head. ¡°But seriously, wearing a thousand -possibly two thousand- year old gauntlet to our D&D group would be massively irresponsible.¡±


    ¡°Or, hear me out, massively awesome!¡± Annabelle refuted, as she shook his arm. ¡°I mean, can¡¯t you just see yourself wearing the King¡¯s Hand while being the Dungeon Master?! And, and aren¡¯t we doing that boss fight with the evil king, you can take our game to the next level with this.¡±


    He adjusted his glasses, as he looked at the gauntlet picturing it in his head. (It would be kind of cool¡­)


    ¡°Come on~ Be my dungeon master and I¡¯ll be your dungeon mistress~¡± Annabelle teased him.


    ¡°Oh, you are a terrible influence¡­¡± He moaned, feeling a bit of heat come to his cheeks even after all these wonderful years of marriage.


    He gave the gauntlet another glance while biting his lip. ¡°We don¡¯t even know if it¡¯ll fit. I mean, I can¡¯t damage this thing and as big as this thing is, if I put it on it might go flying during all those theatrics you love.¡±


    ¡°We love.¡± His beautiful wife corrected. ¡°We both know you were doing those long before you met me.¡±


    ¡°I got worse about it because of you.¡± He reminded the love of his life.


    ¡°True.¡± Annabelle conceded as she looked at the glove herself, before taking it from his hands. ¡°How about this? We¡¯ll put the King¡¯s Hand on you now, and if it doesn¡¯t fit I¡¯ll quit bugging you, but if it fits then you¡¯ll wear it to our D&D game.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± He frowned.


    ¡°And if the King¡¯s Hand doesn¡¯t fit you, well¡­¡± Annabelle leaned in with one of her grins. ¡°I¡¯m sure my queen¡¯s hand will~¡±


    He closed his eyes, trying to resist the vile temptress in front of him before, ¡°Oh¡­ fine. I¡¯ll try the stupid glove on.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Annabelle cheered before kissing him over and over again. ¡°Love you. Love you. Love you!!!¡±


    He couldn¡¯t help but roll his eyes as he lined his hand up with the gauntlet, before Annabelle pulled it down over his hand.


    ¡°Well, how does it fit?¡± Annabelle asked excitedly.


    ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s a bit of a tighter fit than I was expecting.¡± He admitted, trying to move his hand and feeling the gauntlet sort of fighting him to do so. ¡°Also, it really does not want to move.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­ but the fingers were all flopping about a minute ago?¡± Annabelle frowned. ¡°Maybe your fingers take up too much space inside of it, I mean, wasn''t there that whole thing about the average human being bigger now than a thousand years ago?¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it¡­ I can feel the glove starting to give¡­¡± He told her as he put a bit more force into his movement. ¡°Just¡­ needs¡­ a little more¡­ force!¡±


    He made a fist with the King¡¯s Hand and-


    [System]: Reset Complete.


    [System]: Welcome back, Overlorde.


    What does Simon find when he wakes up?


    [Magician]- A pair of twins cautiously watching him. (Wait, why are they armed?)


    [Caretaker]-A grinning¡­ creature with fangs and a tail. (Why are they calling me boss?)


    [Scientist]-An eccentric young woman cackling about her ¡®Success¡¯. (Why is there lightning?)


    [Rogue]-An angry looking trio dressed up for a renaissance faire. (Why are they glaring at me?)


    [Warrior]-A mad beast with tears running down its face. (Need to move!)


    Winning Vote


    []-A grinning¡­ creature with fangs and a tail. (Why are they calling me boss?)


    ---


    A/N: Aka the one who will not ease you into this.


    ---


    Chapter 1: The Overlord¡¯s Reawakening


    --- Simon Lorde ---


    [System]: Reset Complete.


    [System]: Welcome back, Overlorde.


    His eyes drearily parted, taking in the empty void that surrounded him even if his mind couldn¡¯t quite understand where he found himself. But despite the emptiness of the void, some small instinctive part of him knew that in this vast abyss of nothingness¡­


    He was not alone.


    ¡°Fresh meat is waking up.¡± A gruff voice noted as a red outline briefly highlighted someone in the darkness, their body covered in both weapons and armor forged from the blackest of steels.


    (The Warrior¡­) The clashing of metal on metal told him, and even if that Title just barely scratched the surface of who this was he knew without a doubt that it fit him completely and utterly as thousands of blades struck true.


    ¡°So the new one awakes at last!¡± Another older voice laughed, a light blue outline to the form of a hunched figure in a heavy leather robe clinging to a large walking stick, numerous white bandages visible beneath the robes.


    (The Magician¡­) Raw power thrummed, one thousand arcane secrets begging to be discovered once more.


    ¡°Good, the experiment can continue once more.¡± An almost metallic voice rasped, as green highlighted another figure with a walking stick, albeit one clearly much younger despite a purple gas mask and long coat obscuring them.


    (The Scientist¡­) Electricity cackled as a thousand impossibilities were made possible by metal, imagination, and will.


    ¡°Must you describe it so coldly? This is more a legacy for the future than anything.¡± A kind voice pointed out, yellow highlighting an unassuming figure who looked more like a kind farmer than anything else with the way his eyes glowed a warm orange.


    (The Caretaker¡­) The warm mumbling of newborns assured him from a thousand sources taking their first breath.


    ¡°One I doubt the world remembers fondly.¡± A fifth raspier voice mocked, a smile to their voice as the cloaked figure¡¯s thin frame was outlined in gray and a flash of flickering gold revealed a coin dancing across his knuckles.


    (The Rogue¡­) A knife whispered in the dark as a thousand shadows danced around it in the coin¡¯s light.


    As these five continued to bicker amongst themselves a sixth figure stepped out from the void, one whose face was simultaneously so familiar he felt like he¡¯d known this scarred man for all his years and yet just foreign enough that he couldn¡¯t recognize them.


    (The Survivor¡­) A thousand dying voices wailed even as the man continued to walk, death itself not even slowing him.


    When the scarred man stepped forward the other figures went silent with a sort of awed reverence that he knew was rare for them. ¡°The cycle continues once more¡­ Don¡¯t forget¡­¡±


    As one the six spoke, their words echoing through his mind, so much so that he said the words with them.


    ¡°The Great Evil Must Survive!¡±


    ¡°Ah-ha! The Boss haz returned!¡±


    He jolted finding himself somewhere new and his head too fuzzy to remember how he got here or where he just was. (I¡­ I was¡­ I was just home with Anna¡­ Annabelle¡­ wasn¡¯t I?)


    Before he could figure that out, a number of hands pulled on him forcing him to his feet, their owners darting away before he could get a clear look at any of them.


    He blinked, some of the fuzz clearing as he realized he was in a large stone hall of some kind and that there was someone staring at him with an excited grin.


    A second blink had him realizing that someone had green skin and very pointy teeth.


    He closed his eyes before shaking his head, and seeing that yes the person in front of him did have green skin, pointy teeth, and a long tail swishing through the air behind them.


    (She¡¯s also a woman and you¡¯re staring.) A warm voice whispered with a touch of amusement.


    ¡°Um, sorry¡­ I think¡­ I think I¡¯ve had too much to drink¡­¡± He confessed to the woman, because regardless of any hallucinations or similar he did at least try to be a gentleman.


    The woman took on a thoughtful look. ¡°Huh, yah, ah zuppoz it would be like a hangover wouldn¡¯t it?¡±


    Despite his many travels -and an odd feeling of familiarity with it- he couldn¡¯t quite place the woman¡¯s accent. (Wait, that¡¯s not important¡­)


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry but¡­ who are you?¡± He asked, his head pounding a bit as he tried to remember anything that could help him with the current situation.


    ¡°Ah, yah, I forgot to introduce myzelf!¡± The woman gasped in an exaggerated way as she bopped her own forehead before giving him a smile full of (very pointy) teeth and offering him her clawed hand. ¡°The name iz Jaqueline Bandersnatch!¡±


    ¡°Um, Simon, Simon Lorde.¡± He nodded, taking her hand and promptly noticing just how tight of a grip the woman had in spite of clearly not trying.


    ¡°Pleazure to meetcha Boss!¡± The woman -Jaqueline- grinned like this was the best day of her life.


    ¡°Uh, Boss?¡± He repeated questioningly as he rubbed the pain out of his hand.


    Even if Jaqueline didn¡¯t quite lose her grin, she did give him a confused look as if she wasn¡¯t sure what he was talking about.


    ¡°Why are you calling me boss?¡± He clarified.


    ¡°Because you are the Boss!¡± The woman laughed as if that explained everything.


    ¡°Okay¡­ why am I the Boss?¡± He tried instead.


    Jaqueline gave him another confused look before bopping her head again and giving him an understanding nod. ¡°Ah, yah, yah, I get it. You¡¯z the Boss because you¡¯z the Overlord!¡±


    ¡°Um, overlord?¡± He blinked.


    ¡°Yah, you know conquer the lands, zteal the princezzez, fight the ztupid heroez.¡± Jaqueline elaborated as she waved a hand through the air.


    He narrowed his eyes in confusion, before continuing with, ¡°And making dungeons, raising monsters, casting spells, and so on?¡±


    ¡°And zo on.¡± Jaqueline nodded.


    He ran a hand down his face. ¡°And why am I the¡­ the ¡®Overlord¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Because you¡¯z got the Overlord¡¯z hand.¡± Jaqueline smiled before gesturing to his left hand where he wore the metal gauntlet that was the King¡¯s Hand.


    (How didn¡¯t I notice that? I mean I was just¡­) A pulse of pain interrupted that thought as he remembered putting the gauntlet because of Annabelle¡¯s nudging. ¡°Right, I put the gauntlet on and¡­¡± His mind was still fuzzy about what happened next, cutting straight to waking up a few moments prior.


    Staring at the metal hand that he just knew was responsible for his current predicament, he tried to pull it off before finding the gauntlet forced his hand into a fist every time he tried, keeping it all firmly locked in place.


    ¡°You must¡¯ve zcrambled you¡¯z brainz harder than I thought.¡± Jaqueline told him as she scratched her head with another confused look.


    He bit back his more frustrated response to that, before giving the woman another once over. His mind once more dismissed her¡­ additional features as if he¡¯d seen them a hundred times before. The same way he had when working with a new colleague with an unusual feature or missing limb, he noted it, classed it as unimportant in the grand scheme of things and then promptly moved on.


    A part of him knew that her being a different species wasn¡¯t such a small detail, especially given how often he¡¯d fantasized about such things as a fantasy loving teenager. But he felt that fumbling first contact because he let his inner nerd make a fool of himself would not help him in this situation. (I just have to roll with all of this¡­)


    Instead he focused on her clothing, taking note of how her clothes seemed to almost resemble a blue and red colonial uniform. Something that seemed to serve more for appearances sake than for practicality. (Though I guess it does go nicely with her hair and skin.)


    ¡°Ah, ah, Boss are you how do they zay, ¡®checking me out¡¯.¡± Jaqueline blushed, looking not at all displeased in the slightest.


    His eyes jumped to the woman¡¯s forehead. ¡°I am a happily married man!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯z not a dealbreaker~¡± Jaqueline smiled, stepping closer.


    He actually frowned at that, feeling fairly insulted rather than flattered. ¡°I am not going to cheat on Annabelle.¡±


    ¡°Who zaid anythin¡¯ about cheating?¡± The woman in front of him smiled with a mouth full of fangs. ¡°She can join whenever she wants, in fact I can show you both all sortz of fun things~¡±


    This statement was highlighted by her waving her tail in front of his nose.


    He grabbed Jaqueline¡¯s shoulders and gently pushed her back several steps. ¡°Please stay at least this distance from me at all times.¡±


    ¡°Ah, boo¡­¡± Jaqueline pouted before letting out a sigh. ¡°Well, can¡¯t blame a Jaegerjacque from trying.¡±


    ¡°Jaegerjacque?¡± He repeated questioningly.


    ¡°The Overlord¡¯z ever faithful minions.¡± Jaqueline bowed, before looking up as her yellow eyes flashed, the pupils disappearing as a dozen more eyes appeared hiding in the shadows. ¡°Every last one of us.¡±


    ¡°And¡­ how many of you are there?¡± He found himself asking as he eyed the numerous eyes hiding in the shadows, not feeling an ounce of fear in himself as if he instinctively knew these people meant him no harm in spite of their claws and fangs. (Still should know how many I¡¯m dealing with¡­)


    ¡°Not as many as I wished.¡± Jaqueline grimaced as she stood, a few of the eyes disappearing and others revealing themselves to be fireflies of some sort. ¡°We¡¯re all faithful, yah, but it¡¯z been a hundred years zince the previous Overlord¡¯z Era ended, and given how one of our orderz iz to live free and happy we¡¯re kind of everywherez and nowherez right now.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± He nodded sympathetically, because he didn¡¯t really know what else to do.


    ¡°Zpeaking of, we had to move da throne because those stupid heroez kicked us out of our old place¡­ again¡­¡± Jaqueline sighed before shaking her head and motioning him to follow as she started towards some stairs. ¡°Ztill, while we lost our old city, and a few¡­ dozen otherz we¡¯ve built while you were out -because them fookin¡¯ heroez won¡¯t leave uz alone! Forcin¡¯ us to keep movin¡¯ and bein¡¯ attacked by monsters or chased by pitchforkz and torchies all because we tryin¡¯ to find a new home!¡±


    He decided it was best not to say anything because while part of him felt bad that these ¡®Jaegerjacques¡¯ had to keep moving, the fact that it was ¡®heroes¡¯ that were making them move and that the ¡®Overlord¡¯ was usually the bad guy had him wondering if he should feel bad for them. (For all I know they¡¯re killing and pillaging half the countryside¡­)


    Still as Jaqueline continued to rant about even more troubles her people had gone through while remaining loyal to the Overlord, he couldn¡¯t keep himself from feeling some sympathy for their various plights.


    ¡°But like the sayin¡¯ goez, evil alwayz findz a way!¡± Jaqueline laughed as they came to a large set of wooden doors that the woman kicked open. ¡°Zo what to do ya think Boss?¡±


    He couldn¡¯t help but swallow as he stepped past the doors, his eyes taking in the scenery around him and forcing himself to admit that, that (I¡¯m a lot further from home than I thought¡­)


    Choose Your Starting Biome (Hint: Each of these has currently hidden pros and cons, such as which Kingdom will be your neighbor.)


    (Note: Picking the Jaegerjacques means you have no scouting time before your base is set, but that you get them -an elite general purpose unit- as your starting minion as well as some low level infrastructure.)


    []- Plains


    []- Forest


    []- Swamps


    []- Mountains


    []- Dessert


    []- Ocean


    []- Ruins


    ---


    A/N: Okay, there was a tie between Ruins and Swamp¡­ I can make that work.


    ---


    Chapter 2: Jaegerjaque¡¯s Tour


    --- Simon Lorde ---


    In front of him was what appeared to be a marshland of sorts, dark swampy waters and scraggly black trees all around their vines hanging low as they grew over structures of stone and metal that looked centuries old.


    The space he and Jaqueline stood on was a small patch of dirt, and one of only a handful of islands he could see floating between the water and trees. Though on the other islands he could make out a few more structures that hadn¡¯t been consumed by the water.


    ¡°I know, I know, it don¡¯t look like much but ya gotta trust me when I zay we¡¯ve done a lot with what we¡¯ve got.¡± Jaqueline assured him. ¡°Admittedly, we¡¯ve taken over the ruinz to do a lot of that, but we¡¯ve ztill done a lot.¡±


    Rather than expressing his doubts, he instead told her, ¡°I¡¯m sure you have.¡±


    The jaegerjaque waved a finger in his face, clearly having caught his disbelief. ¡°Look, look, I¡¯ll give ya a tour and you¡¯ll zee how much we¡¯ve done. Now come on, come on.¡±


    Using what was more of leaping stride than what could be called a walk, Jaqueline made her way to a small wooden raft off to the side. ¡°Now first off, while we don¡¯t really need them, we made a bunch of these raftz here for ya and any other minionz ya recruit to get around.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ kind of you.¡± He smiled, even if he didn¡¯t really feel it. (It, it might be best to just roll with things until I get a moment alone.)


    ¡°Ah, lezz kindnezz and more efficien-z.¡± Jaqueline admitted, using a large stick to keep the raft in place as he tried to keep balance on the ship. ¡°We¡¯ve been doin¡¯ thiz long enough to know what any Overlord needz to get the job done without needing a zmack to get movin¡¯. Though zpeaking of needing a zmack¡­¡±


    The Jaegerjaque inhaled deeply before suddenly screaming,  ¡°The Overlord¡¯z here for an inzpection, get your lazy arzez movin¡¯ before ya make me look bad!¡±


    From inside of the stone building they just exited a number of creatures looking similar to Jaqueline -save their skin colors and clothing- leapt out from the doorway and into the trees before making their way to the various other islands and structures.


    ¡°Zorry about that boss, the boyz all wanted to zee you when we realized you were waking up.¡± Jaqueline apologized. ¡°After all, it¡¯z not every day that you zee the return of the Overlord.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± He lied, albeit sympathetically.


    ¡°Anywayz, back to the tour.¡± Jaqueline used her stick to get the raft moving before using it to point back at the building they¡¯d come out of, one that almost looked like a cathedral of some kind. ¡°We zet the throne up in the basement of that building because it¡¯z big enough to work for both houzin¡¯ and a gatherin¡¯ point. Alzo, the acoustics. Them be important we ya¡¯re giving a big zpeech and zome zuch. ¡±


    ¡°They are.¡± He nodded, remembering the few lectures he¡¯d given at the college, and the one time he¡¯d done so with broken speakers.


    ¡°Aye.¡± Jaqueline nodded back, before moving the raft a bit further and pointing towards what from a modern perspective looked like a half collapsed and half submerged parking structure of some kind. ¡°We¡¯re turning that into a farm of zortz, each level will have different thingz, and with zome netz we¡¯ve built a fish farm at the bottom with some cropz on the top level.¡±


    ¡°I see. The multi-floored structure is a way of maximizing the small amount of land here.¡± He realized. ¡°What a marvel that must¡¯ve been in the past.¡±


    ¡°Eh, you would know better than me.¡± Jaqueline shrugged, before pushing their raft towards another half-submerged building with several holes in the wall where he saw a number of Jaegerjaques coming and going from with their arms full.


    Their raft entered the building through one of the larger holes at water level and he found the inside of the building to have several floors, each with a massive hole in the middle that he was having trouble deciding whether it was due to the wear and tear of time or the Jaegerjaques themselves given how they were simply leaping and climbing through the holes.


    Not that that stopped several from stopping in what they were doing to stare at him with excited looks and grins full of fangs as some seemed to vibrate in place just from seeing him. (They¡­ really are happy to see me for some reason¡­)


    ¡°Hold on.¡± Jaqueline told him just a moment before grabbing him and leaping off the raft.


    ¡°W-what are you doing?!¡± He cried as they soared through the air, before Jaqueline caught the edge of the lowest hole and flipped them over it.


    ¡°Ah, zorry boss.¡± Jaqueline apologized as she set him down. ¡°We haven¡¯t really built ladderz zince we don¡¯t really need ¡®em, but we can get on that once you¡¯ve got more minionz than uz.¡±


    ¡°R-right, I suppose that makes sense.¡± He smiled shakily as he tried to calm his pounding heart. ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re an agile lot aren¡¯t you.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Juzt the way the Caretaker built uz!¡± The jaegerjaque preened proudly. ¡°Juzt like we built all of thiz!¡±


    Adjusting his glasses took a look around the building and found what looked like a makeshift cross of a smithery, the heat and smoke both being dissipated by all of the holes in such a way that there was no visible smoke from the outside.


    ¡°We¡¯ve turned this building into a crafting diztrict, all the holez give us ventilation for the smoke and make it eazy for uz to come and go.¡± Jaqueline explained before picking him up and leaping to the next floor. ¡°We¡¯re uzing the different floorz here to set up a different crafting type on each, that way no one be ztepping on anyone else¡¯z shoez.¡±


    ¡°I suppose that¡¯s one way of keeping the wood from catching fire.¡± He blinked, a little surprised by how quickly he was getting used to being carried around. (I guess this is sort of like riding a rollercoaster.)


    ¡°Aye, though that doesn¡¯t always stop the boyz from catching fire.¡± Jaqueline admitted before they both watched a burning Jaegerjaque dive through the hole in the floor and into the water down below.


    ¡°Is, is he going to be okay?¡± He frowned while cautiously leaning to look through the hole.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    ¡°Ah, what¡¯s the zaying? Ya can¡¯t kill a good Jaegerjaque unless ya cut their heads off and even then ya gotta make sure they ain¡¯t making faces when ya ain¡¯t looking!¡± Jaqueline laughed at that (rather disturbing imagery¡­)


    Yet again swallowing down his most immediate response, he instead voiced a question that was weighing on him since the start of this tour. ¡°So¡­ while all of this is very impressive.¡± He assured the fanged woman who could throw him across the room. ¡°What exactly is it you want from me?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯d like that night with ya and your wife, but since ya zaid no to that¡­ I juzt want ya to be the Boss that ya are!¡± Jaqueline smiled at him.


    ¡°And¡­ what does that entail exactly?¡± He asked, because while his immediate desire was to get home, he got the distinct feeling that wasn¡¯t happening until he settled things with¡­ this lot. (I hope Annabelle doesn¡¯t worry too much¡­ Or murder anyone while trying to find me¡­)


    ¡°Didn¡¯t we go over thiz?¡± Jaqueline frowned. ¡°Zteal the princezzez, conquer the landz, unite the monzta kin, and prezerve the great evil!¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ and how am I supposed to do all of those things?¡± (That I have zero intention of actually doing.)


    ¡°With da Overlord¡¯z Hand of course!¡± Jaqueline answered in a way that said she thought he was playing the fool for some reason. (Though the fact that I don¡¯t really know what¡¯s going on kind of says I am the fool here¡­)


    Instead of admitting to that though, he looked down at the metal gauntlet still stuck to his hand. ¡°And how am I supposed to use the¡­ Overlord¡¯s Hand?¡±


    ¡°To do Overlord thingz!¡± Jaqueline told him, beginning to sound like she was getting frustrated despite the friendly smile on her face.


    ¡°I understand that, but I mean how do I use the Overlord¡¯s Hand?¡± He elaborated, believing that (when in an unknown magical place the best thing to do is listen to the possibly magical creature.)


    ¡°That¡­ is actually a very good queztion.¡± The Jaegerjaque confessed, seeming to think about it for a moment before shrugging. ¡°Zince I¡¯m not the Overlord, I don¡¯t know how to uze the Hand, but it¡¯z Overlord Magic, zo juzt follow the Overlord¡¯z Golden Rule.¡±


    ¡°The Overlord¡¯s Golden Rule?¡± He repeated skeptically.


    ¡°Ah, well it¡¯z not an official rule, but everyone eventually figurez out that if the Overlord Willz it, it happenz.¡± Jaqueline explained while looking a little sheepish. ¡°Juzt decide what ya want and will it zo.¡±


    (Just decide what I want and will it so¡­) He frowned, figuring this was going to be one of those things that he¡¯d just have to figure out for himself.


    Upon examining the gauntlet once more he found his gaze locking onto the large gem embedded into the back, the gem sparkling far more than it had prior to his appearance here, and as he gazed into its depths, instinct told him what he had to do.


    What color is the Overlord¡¯s Gem? (Freebie Overlord Perk. Have to complete a Big objective for these but they are literal game changers.)


    Hint: This color scheme is common in my other stories.


    []- Red.


    []- Blue.


    []- Green.


    []- Black.


    What does the Overlord will for? (Freebie Overlord Ability. Have to train to get these, they¡¯re useful but won¡¯t change how you play.)


    []- A weapon in hand.


    []- Power unleashed.


    []- Controlled force.


    []- Domination.


    Chosen Starting Biome: Swamp Ruins


    -Pros:


    --Ruins can be converted into structures, gaining bonuses based on the ruin used.


    --Lands natural defenses will make most people reluctant to search the area.


    --Native creatures -possible minions- of the swamp will be hardier than most.


    -Cons:


    --Limited Building space, but you can fix this in time.


    --Harshness of the Swamp biome will limit some minion options.


    --Ruins will attract adventurers if they find out about them.


    -Neutral:


    --Swamp biome reduces mobility of all units lacking a special Mobility.


    Starting Buildings


    Throne Room (Ruin Bonus: Underground. Above building must be conquered for non-stealth enemies to enter.)


    -The Throne Room and your personal chambers.


    Barracks/Living Space (Ruin Bonus: Acoustics. Gain an additional D6 when giving speeches.)


    -A living space for your minions, will house all humanoid Minions so long as Population is [Small] or less.


    Farm Tower (Ruin Bonus: Can build up to 5 ¡®Farms¡¯ on one plot.)


    -Produces different types of food to feed the population. (Surplus will be converted to Gold via trade. (When we set that up.))


    -Current Farm Production


    --Basic Field (+1 Vegetation Food)


    --Fish Farm (+1 Meat Food)


    Starting Minion


    (Basic) Jaegerjaques


    -Worker Tags: Humanoid, Base Builders


    -Combat Tags: Scrapper, Infiltrators, Scouts


    -Social Tags: Friendly, Blood Knights, Loyal, Fearless


    -Special Abilities:


    --Agile: Mobility. These units can climb and leap distances that allow them to work around a number of terrain obstacles. Walls actually help them rather than hindering.


    --Healing Factor: As long as they aren¡¯t killed, this unit can heal from any injury with time.


    --Adaptable: This unit can survive in any biome without suffering a physical penalty, and is immune to all but the most extreme environmental hazards.


    ---


    A/N: Okay, we had two voters -I think- so I¡¯m going to pick one from each option, and hopefully pick one from each person.


    -Blue


    -Domination


    ---


    Chapter 3: The Dominant Problems


    --- Simon Lorde ---


    The blue gem glowed as he raised his hand in front of him and followed the instinct running through the back of his mind, instructing him on what to do as if it was an old habit ingrained over centuries.


    Power that was somehow both hot and cold surged through him, flooding him with an unbreaking conviction as he focused on the world in front of him, not even thinking about what he was doing, he willed the world itself to, ¡°Bend the knee.¡±


    All around him every Jaegerjaque stopped what they were doing and dropped to a single knee as they kneeled, their eyes all overcome with a glowing blue that overwrote everything else.


    Seeing this and feeling the intoxicating power that flooded through him, he just knew that with this gauntlet on his hand, he could make the gods themselves bend to his will. A thought that brought a mad grin to his face as he thought about- (What am I doing?!)


    Cold clarity flooded him as the gauntlet lost power, leaving him surrounded by the Jaegerjaques all on their knees and all with a fading glow to their eyes. Horror washed over him as he stared down at the seemingly inconspicuous gauntlet on his hand, realizing what he¡¯d just done and just how far he could¡¯ve taken that addictive power. The atrocities he could have committed while under its influence.


    (I need to get this thing off of me¡­) He swallowed, gripping the glove and finding that it once more refused to let go of his hand.


    ¡°Aw, why¡¯d ya ztop¡­¡± Jaqueline whined from where she sat on her knees, a look on her face.


    He froze. ¡°W-what?¡±


    ¡°You were doing zo good~¡± The (woman) purred, her look somehow becoming even more than it already was.


    ¡°Uh, I- what?¡± He found himself repeating, unable to do much else as Jaqueline slowly stretched herself out.


    ¡°Mm~ I haven¡¯t been dominated like that in a while.¡± The Jaegerjaque told him with a satisfied grin. ¡°Didn¡¯t know how bad I waz needing that.¡±


    ¡°What is happening?¡± He whispered to himself, feeling his sanity begin to fray as he realized that all the Jaegerjaques were in a similar state of lazed relaxation as Jaqueline. A state that was a little too similar to a state of relaxation he¡¯d seen Annabelle in.


    ¡°Ya used the Overlord¡¯z Hand to Dominate uz.¡± Jaqueline answered, apparently seeing no reason to stand back up. ¡°Me and da boyz be needing that in a bad way with az rough az the lazt few yearz have been.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ am deeply uncomfortable with everything you just said. Aren¡¯t you mad that I just¡­ I just mind controlled you!¡± There really was no other way to say it.


    Jaqueline gave him a confused look. ¡°Ya didn¡¯t mind control uz, ya Dominated uz like a propa Overlord.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± He scoffed, sure that there was none.


    ¡°Mind Control iz when ya go in and twizt zomeone¡¯z thoughtz around, make ¡®em into zomethin¡¯ they¡¯re not. Domination iz where ya link ya mind with zomeone and make clear who da boss iz. The perzon iz still the perzon, they juzt zee thingz your way.¡± Jaqueline explained. ¡°It¡¯z not like ya can make zomeone be zomeone other than who they are.¡±


    ¡°That just¡­ that just sounds like mind control with extra steps.¡± He told her, while wondering if denial was a side effect of this Domination thing.


    ¡°Nah, nah. Domination iz way zimpler than mind control.¡± The Jaegerjaque assured him. ¡°All ya doing iz making yourzelf the boss. No one iz going to do anything for ya, they ain¡¯t willing to do for another boss. Hell, zome people are even immune to it, but they got to be really loyal to their current boss to do that.¡± Jaqueline gave him a fanged grin. ¡°Like we are to you!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± He inhaled before exhaling. ¡°This is very clearly a Dark Side power.¡±


    ¡°Ya mean the fun zide?¡± Jaqueline blinked with a tilt of her head.


    ¡°What I mean is that, I¡¯m not going to be doing this¡­ Domination thing again.¡± As much as he may¡¯ve fantasized about magic over the years, he was not going to use magic that overwrote someone¡¯s will. (That¡¯s how you turn yourself into a monster.)


    Jaqueline shot up suddenly looking alarmed. ¡°Okay, okay, now let¡¯z not be hazty here. Domination iz one of the bezt toolz of the overlord trade, you can¡¯t juzt cut uz off- I mean, you can¡¯t juzt not uze it!¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± He frowned. ¡°I get that you want me to be this overlord thing, but I¡¯m not going to remove people¡¯s free will-¡±


    ¡°Of courze not, which iz why¡­ you¡¯ll only uze it on wild thingz and willing minionz.¡± Jaqueline smiled with a hint of desperation. ¡°Thingz that either lack zapience or want you to dominate them. That way there¡¯z no moral quandary to worry about.¡±


    ¡°That¡­ that sounds like a very slippery slope.¡± He admitted, remembering just how intoxicating that power had been.


    ¡°Perhapz, but there are zome truly dangerouz beaztiez out there.¡± Jaqueline warned him, before her eyes went wide. ¡°Ah, yez, that¡¯ll prove why ya need to uze every zword on the rack!¡±


    Before he could react, Jaqueline had once more grabbed him before leaping through the hole in the floor and with a few clawed grapples against the crumbling ceiling and walls had landed them on the raft they¡¯d been using previously.


    After taking a moment to try and catch his balance, only to fall on his ass, he turned a glare to the Jaegerjaque as she began to once more maneuver them through the swampy waters. ¡°Where are we going now?¡±


    ¡°I told you there are dangerouz beaztiez out there. There¡¯z a couple that are a bit clozer to camp than we like, but we were going to leave them be zo long az they did the zame for uz.¡± Jaqueline explained without breaking from her rowing.


    ¡°What kind of beasts?¡± He asked, because while he had dealt with a few dangerous animals during his expeditions for the university he wasn¡¯t sure he could handle something that a creature like Jaqueline would consider dangerous. (Hopefully it¡¯s just a few alligators or something¡­)


    ¡°All kindz of beaztiez made by the Magician, the Scientist, and the Caretaker.¡± Jaqueline answered, causing him to grip his head as he felt something wriggling around inside of his thoughts.


    ¡°I¡­ I know those¡­ those titles?¡± He frowned, not sure how he knew them or what they represented beyond a few vague mental outlines.


    ¡°Of courze you do, ya the Overlord!¡± Jaqueline laughed, not noticing his discomfort at this little aside as she continued to elaborate that, ¡°Their beaztiez roam all over the world, zome doing their job and zome having forgotten it az the zenturiez dragged on or their jobz quit needing doing.¡±


    ¡°What kind of jobs?¡± He wondered, his mind conjuring up the kind of magical constructs or scientific abominations he¡¯d use as enemies in various tabletop games.


    ¡°Like dealing with thoze ztupid fookin¡¯ heroez!¡± Jaqueline growled before putting on a chipper smile. ¡°Or working to be the bezt minionz eva like uz Jaegerjaquez!¡±


    ¡°So you were created to be minions.¡± He realized, eyeing the woman in front of him and wondering if she even realized what it meant that her race was designed to be servants, slaves even.


    (No.) (Wait¡­) ¡°You¡¯re meant to be the Overlord¡¯s minions but you said earlier the Jaegerjaques were spread out because you were ordered to live free and be happy.¡± He remembered.


    ¡°Aye.¡± Jaqueline nodded. ¡°Ever Jaegerjaque followz the overlord because we choose to, not because he ordered uz to.¡±


    He considered that for a moment, before pointing out that, ¡°Earlier you said you wanted me to use Domination on you and the other Jaegerjaques. The way you were all acting¡­ How do you know you¡¯re not conditioned to be controlled by his power? An addiction built into your species to keep you loyal.¡±


    ¡°Nah, it¡¯z not like that.¡± Jaqueline assured him with a distasteful frown, before crouching down and letting the currents carry them. ¡°Domination connectz uz to you, and it¡¯z¡­ Ya got a god ya believe in?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know.¡± He admitted, the topic having always been odd for him given how he was raised alongside how much of the world he¡¯d seen that wasn¡¯t limited to the churchyard.


    ¡°Well, ya rather they have a plan or no plan at all?¡± Jaqueline tried.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­¡± He answered once more, because there were pros and cons to both paths.


    ¡°Well, I zay it don¡¯t matter if there¡¯z a plan zo long az ya know ya god iz on ya zide, that he¡¯ll try to do right by ya whether he got the power or not.¡± Jaqueline confessed, not quite meeting his eyes. ¡°When ya Dominate uz, ya connect to uz, we zee your will, and know zuccezz or failure you¡¯ve got our back. That¡¯z¡­ comforting.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡± He wasn¡¯t sure what he could say to that, the entire thing sounding far more¡­ intimate than he¡¯d been expecting. Especially since, (I barely know them and for all I know they kidnapped me here¡­ Yet, she¡¯s so confident after that I¡¯m on their side¡­)


    They both sat there in silence as the raft continued to carry them through the swamp, each with their own thoughts on the matter drifting through their minds. Eventually he was drawn from the depths of these thoughts as Jaqueline once more stood up.


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±


    He looked around and only saw more of the ruins and swamplands that they¡¯d been surrounded by for their entire trip here, though something did tell him there were more Jaegerjaques lurking about nearby. ¡°I don¡¯t see anything.¡±


    Jaqueline pointed to a large island floating in the middle of the water. ¡°One of the beaztiez is over there.¡±


    ¡°On the island? Is that its nesting grounds?¡± He frowned, wondering why a creature on that island would worry the Jaegerjaques. (We¡¯re a bit far from where they¡¯ve set up their camp, surely even if it makes the waters more dangerous it can¡¯t be a threat to them. Not when they don¡¯t really get in the water.)


    ¡°No, that¡¯z not itz neztin¡¯ ground.¡± Jaqueline chuckled before putting two fingers in her mouth and whistling.


    A handful of Jaegerjaques stood up on the edge of a nearby ruin rooftop and made several gestures.


    Jaqueline made a couple of gestures herself before pointing towards him and then the island as she gave a decisive nod.


    The other Jaegerjaques disappeared for a moment before coming back while carrying what from a distance looked like it could be the carcass of a bear given how many of them were needed to carry it before throwing it a decent distance into the water.


    (Ah, they¡¯re baiting it out.) He realized, his eyes locking onto the island as he waited for the creature to come out of hiding.


    Only instead of a creature moving on the island, the island began to move. (Oh¡­)


    From the water a massive set of jaws opened wide, revealing the brown scaly flesh of the creature, before slamming shut and devouring the bear carcass in a single bite with plenty of room to spare.


    ¡°What. Is. That?¡± He asked, unable to take his eyes off of the swamp monster even as it went back to pretending it was an unassuming island.


    ¡°Ship Eaterz. They¡¯re a guardian of the swampz, they mostly harmlezz but they eat anything that get near them.¡± Jaqueline told him, before continuing to explain that, ¡°They¡¯re not very dangerouz while fed but should we get more minionz running around here, we¡¯ll need to do zomething about them zinc they eat any ship that getz near them. We got zome scoutz watching thiz one because if it getz hungry it¡¯ll ztart moving around more and with our base being the closest¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll come after you if you don¡¯t keep it fed.¡± He grimaced.


    ¡°Aye, which keepz a few too many hunterz wrapped up with thiz mezz.¡± Jaqueline nodded. ¡°Zince we knew ya were coming zoon, we didn¡¯t want to kill it in caze you wanted to do zomething with it.¡±


    He looked at the Jaegerjaque wondering if she was crazy. ¡°What can I do with¡­ that thing?¡±


    ¡°Dominate it for one.¡± Jaqueline suggested with a shrug. ¡°You can zend it away and make it zomeone elze¡¯z problem, or we can keep it around to zcare off any one getting too close for comfort.¡±


    ¡°Why Dominate it if we¡¯re planning to keep it around?¡± He couldn¡¯t help but frown. ¡°I mean can¡¯t we just keep feeding it like this.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Jaqueline nodded. ¡°But if ya Dominate it we can keep it clozer to base and we could even build zomething on it¡¯z back. Make it a mobile building of zortz.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s either insane or ingenious¡­¡± He had to admit, easily able to picture a small mobile fortress on the Ship Eater¡¯s back.


    ¡°Well it iz an overlord classic.¡± Jaqueline grinned, before giving the beast a considering look. ¡°Though doing that¡¯ll eat up a lot of food, no more than now, but ztill¡­ Hmm, there¡¯z another option too but it might be a bit rizky until ya get a better handle on thingz.¡±


    He glanced at the Jaegerjaque. ¡°What are you thinking?¡±


    ¡°If you use Domination to rally da boyz, we could kill the beaztie.¡± Jaqueline answered. ¡°Normally I¡¯m againzt killin¡¯ any beazt we ain¡¯t eating, but Ship Eaterz have all zortz of goodiez in them from the shipz they ate. Metalz and zuch that are hard to find in the swamplandz.¡±


    ¡°Do you think you can kill it?¡± He asked, having seen what kind of monster was pretending to be an island.


    ¡°Of courze!¡± Jaqueline scoffed, before proudly puffing up. ¡°And even if we can¡¯t, we can alwayz heal and try again later.¡±


    ¡°Then why would it be risky to go after it?¡± He frowned.


    Jaqueline rubbed the back of her neck. ¡°Ah, well, if we make the beaztie angry and don¡¯t kill it quick, it¡¯ll let out a call for other ship eaterz to come this way. They¡¯ll zcatter again when they find nothing but given how cloze our base iz¡­¡±


    ¡°They might head that way themselves.¡± He grimaced, picturing the waters around the Jaegerjaques¡¯ home swarming with these monsters.


    ¡°Aye.¡± Jaqueline nodded with a grimace of her own. ¡°One ship eater iz manageable right now. Half a dozen though iz a whole other story.¡±


    How should Simon and the Jaegerjaques handle this problem?


    []-Leave the beast for another day. (Can pick any of these later, or send it somewhere specific.)


    []-Dominate the beast to send it away.


    []-Dominate the beast to work with it.


    []-Dominate the Jaegerjaques to kill the beast.


    ---


    Scene Consequences


    New Overlord Skill: Dominate


    -Simon can Dominate the will of any creature with both a Lower Martial and Magical level than him. Each Combat Turn you keep a unit Dominated will cost MP equal to its Minion Rank. This ability does not affect units with the [Loyal] or [Strong Will] traits.


    Hidden Jaegerjaque Trait Revealed


    -Love Being A Minion: These units can be Dominated by their chosen boss. Doing so will restore Morale and grant their boss¡¯s relevant Skill Level to their own checks of that type.


    Overlord¡¯s Gem: Anima Blue


    -Unit Bonus: Simon¡¯s MP will fully restore with any Rest AP. Additionally, if Simon runs out of MP he can use Sanity in its place.


    -Settlement Bonus: ???


    ---


    Chapter 4: A Big Friend And A Big Party


    --- Simon Lorde ---


    He stood there thinking the matter over and (really wishing they weren¡¯t putting this on me¡­) but at the same time he could tell by the expectant look Jaqueline was giving him that neither she nor any of the Jaegerjaques were going to make this decision for him.


    Eventually his eyes fell upon the Ship Eater pretending to be an island, the creature relatively peaceful in spite of being a massive omnivore. An almost (majestic) entity that reminded him of the elephants and whales he¡¯d seen on some of his travels. Massive creatures that were at peace with nature, right up until some human came along and harmed them.


    And while he¡¯d never been overtly involved in their preservation, he found that, (I don¡¯t want to hurt it if I don¡¯t have to¡­)


    Which is why he finally decided that, ¡°If one ship eater is manageable then¡­ let¡¯s keep him around.¡±


    ¡°Ah, youz going to Dominate him?¡± Jaqueline asked with no small amount of glee.


    He glanced at the gauntlet on his hand, before giving the female Jaegerjaque a conflicted look. ¡°Do¡­ do I have to? Isn¡¯t there a way to¡­ domesticate it so it won¡¯t attack you? I mean, I know this isn¡¯t the usual kind of animal to domesticate but¡­ this is a world of magic¡­¡± (There has to be another way.)


    Jaqueline let out a huff of amusement before giving him a nod and a grin. ¡°Aye, there¡¯s this spell from a few hundred years back used for domesticating particularly mean beasties to be more friendly.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± He smiled with no small amount of relief. ¡°What is it? Can you, can you teach me it?¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have to. After all, you already know it.¡± Jaqueline assured him with her hands on her hips.


    (I already¡­) ¡°You¡¯re talking about the Domination spell¡­¡± He realized in annoyance.


    ¡°Ja.¡± Jaqueline laughed with no shame. ¡°Long before we Jaegerjaques came into the picture, that spell was made to keep people from the beastiez of the night. After a few improvements, it even made the beastiez view people az part of their pack. A few more and they started following orderz. A few more and well, even the zmarter beastiez figured out who da boss waz.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t help but grimace at that little history lesson as looked between Jaqueline and the Ship Eater. (That¡¯s not what I wanted to hear¡­)


    ¡°Now don¡¯t look zo down, if ya really don¡¯t want to use Dominate on the beastie or uz then we could juzt leave it here.¡± Jaqueline assured him. ¡°Of course, that¡¯z juzt kicking the can down da road.¡±


    ¡°It is¡­¡± He sighed, running his ungloved hand through his hair before holding the gloved one up in the air.


    Eventually he let the hand fall to his side. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll Dominate the Ship Eater.¡±


    ¡°Wonderful!¡± Jaqueline cackled, before beginning to maneuver their raft around. ¡°In that case we need to get closer to the beastie.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what? Why?!¡± He stumbled, under the sudden raft movements having to fight to keep from falling into the water.


    ¡°Dominate iz kind of tricky about da range.¡± Jaqueline explained, as she sailed their small ship closer to the Ship Eater. ¡°While it can ztretch pretty far once active, the further ya are from the target the harder it iz to Dominate them.¡±


    ¡°Okay, that makes sense.¡± He admitted, ¡°But that doesn¡¯t explain why we¡¯re sailing towards its head instead of its flank!¡±


    ¡°Because the beastie will rezpect ya more if ya look it in the eye when ya show it who''z boss!¡± The mad woman explained, curving the raft in such a way that it stopped with them staring the Ship Eater dead on from the front.


    From this angle it didn¡¯t take him long to find a pair of beady black eyes staring out from the beast pretending to be an island, each surrounded by foliage that would keep them hidden if one didn¡¯t know that it was alive.


    Unfortunately, he did know that he was staring at an omnivorous island, thus allowing him to see the exact moment that the Ship Eater realized that there was a rather small ship floating in front of it. Something that made it all the easier to see how the water surged as the ambush predator made its way towards them.


    ¡°We, we need to move before it eats us!¡± He told Jaqueline.


    ¡°Nah, ya can take him easy, boss.¡± The Jaegerjaque disagreed with a confident smile. ¡°Ya just got to show this beastie what for, and he¡¯ll be followin¡¯ ya orderz in no time.¡±


    ¡°How?!¡± He yelled back as he felt none of that misplaced confidence as the Ship Eater began to open its mouth.


    ¡°We already covered dis, all ya gotz to do iz Dominate it.¡± Jaqueline reminded him, without a single twitch to her mad grin.


    ¡°Shit!¡± He cursed as the moving water began to shake the raft, forcing his eyes back onto the beast about to eat them.


    With no other recourse he raised the Overlord¡¯s Hand towards the beast and closed his eyes as he gave into the hundred instinct before feeling the cold-hot power of the gauntlet begin to flood through him, reminding him that he was the one in power here (not some upstart little salamander!)


    Grasping this power tight, he opened his eyes and with a conviction that would make a god flinch ordered the massive monster before him to ¡°Obey!¡±


    The world around him shook as the power within him rushed forward, leaving him to gasp at the sudden loss of power.


    Despite all of this the Ship Eater continued to rush forward with its maw opened wide.


    Realizing that in spite of the power in the gauntlet, and Jaqueline¡¯s confidence, he¡¯d still failed, he closed his eyes in preparation to become this beast¡¯s latest meal. (I¡¯m sorry Annabelle¡­)


    After a moment with no sudden impact, he wondered if the Ship Eater had eaten them whole in a way that would¡¯ve given Jonah flashbacks of the whale, only to realize something was gently nudging against his gloved hand. (W-what?)


    Cautiously, he slowly peeked through his eyelids before fully opening them as he found the Ship Eater gently nudging against his hand in spite of their massive size difference.


    ¡°Zee, look at him, he¡¯z little more than a mazzive puppy now!¡± Jaqueline laughed from beside him, having apparently waited until he was actually looking at the results of, of (my magic¡­)


    ¡°He, he is¡­ isn¡¯t he?¡± He huffed with no small amount of awe as he continued to pet the Ship Eater¡¯s snout.


    ¡°Yep, and now that he¡¯z all docile like we don¡¯t have to worry about him eating any of da boyz back home.¡± Jaqueline nodded, walking over and giving the Ship Eater a couple pats of her own. ¡°Zpeaking of¡­ Boyz we¡¯z bouncin¡¯!¡±


    He couldn¡¯t help but flinch at the sudden yell from beside him, something that the Ship Eater luckily didn¡¯t care about in the slightest as it continued to nudge itself against his hand. Something that became harder as Jaqueline picked him up and climbed them both onto the Ship Eater¡¯s head.


    The living island made a rumbling sound that had both of them shaking from the sheer force of it.


    ¡°Now, now big guy. We¡¯z gotz to get movin¡¯ but you¡¯re coming with uz.¡± Jaqueline assured the beast as she rubbed its head, before turning back to Simon. ¡°You¡¯ve got to point him in the direction we¡¯re goin¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Oh, um¡­¡± He looked around trying to remember which way they came from after all of that¡­ excitement.


    ¡°That way.¡± Jaqueline helpfully pointed.


    ¡°Ah, thank you.¡± He nodded before pointing towards the Jaegerjaques¡¯ base.


    Not needing any other direction the Ship Eater began slowly turning the way he was pointing without any more words.


    While they moved he found that from all around them the Jaegerjaques that had been watching them came out of hiding, and moved closer. Some of them even going so far as to jump onto the Ship Eater completely trusting that they¡¯d pacified the giant beast. ¡°Aren¡¯t, aren¡¯t they scared the Ship Eater is going to get them?¡±


    ¡°Maybe if they were ztupid and the beastie wazn¡¯t Dominated, but they know it¡¯z zafe for now.¡± Jaqueline shrugged, before letting out a dark chuckle as she began to once more move the raft. ¡°And if any of dem are ztupid enough to mezz with him after the Domination wearz off then they dezerve to zpend a week or two getting digezted.¡±


    ¡°Would, wouldn¡¯t that kill them?¡± He frowned with some concern.


    ¡°Nope.¡± Jaqueline smiled with nothing but fangs.


    He wasn¡¯t sure if that made it better or worse.


    Deciding that he didn¡¯t really want to dwell on that at the moment, he instead asked, ¡°So, um, what now?¡±


    ¡°Now we go back to baze and celebrate the Overlord¡¯z latezt victory!¡± Jaqueline answered, raising her voice into a cheer that was matched by the rest of the Jaegerjaques hitching a ride with the Ship Eater.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ not really what I meant¡­¡± (And I think you know that¡­)


    ¡°Ah, ya mean what are we doin¡¯ with da Ship Eater?¡± Jaqueline nodded, without actually meeting his eyes. ¡°Hmm, well like we waz talking about earlier there are a few optionz there. The mozt obvious would be to build zomething on his back zo that we have a building we can move around the swamp.¡±


    ¡°...¡± He held his tongue, getting the feeling that Jaqueline was purposely avoiding what he wanted to talk about.


    In the face of his silence Jaqueline glanced his way and winced upon seeing his frown. The female Jaegerjaque bit her lip for a moment before subtly moving her head towards the rest of her kind and shaking her head as she tried to pass a message to him.


    He glanced towards all of the Jaegerjaques that he couldn¡¯t actually name, before giving her a nod and mouthing the word ¡®Today.¡¯ to which Jaqueline nodded back with a relieved look.


    Figuring that it was best to¡­ play along for now, he instead asked Jaqueline, ¡°What kind of things do you think we should build? I mean more building space is useful with how limited it is out here, but that means we have to be mindful of what we put there.¡±


    ¡°Right, well, right now we don¡¯t have a whole lot we can build, but everything we could build would be really uzeful right now.¡± Jaqueline assured him. ¡°The easiest would be a zupply tranzport to help da boyz move building zuppliez around da swamp, which given how we have to carry everything right now would pretty much double our gathering of wood, ztone, and similar.¡±


    ¡°Which would be a massive boon if you¡¯re planning on turning this place into a proper home.¡± He agreed, figuring that in a place with more water than land a ship was -from a civilization stand point- about as valuable as roads in the ancient world. (And until they get a shipyard this big guy might be the closest they have for a while.)


    ¡°Ja, but alternatively we could zet up a¡­ zort of hunting and fishing ship on his back.¡± Jaqueline offered. ¡°Given the zituation we¡¯d barely be breaking even on the food that bringz in but, given how keepin¡¯ him around iz already eating a hefty chunk of our food zupply¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll at least mean he¡¯s pulling his weight to stick around as it were.¡± He nodded in understanding, aware that his desire to not kill the Ship Eater was going to maintain the sink in their food supply they might¡¯ve been hoping he¡¯d get rid of.


    ¡°When we¡¯re more eztablished we could zet up zomething more efficient but right now it¡¯z what we¡¯ve got to work with.¡± Jaqueline admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. ¡°Similarly, we could build another farm on his back. The mozz and dirt Ship Eaterz gather iz zurprizingly good for farming, nothing fantastic but enough that we could have farm we could move if¡­ thingz go badly.¡±


    ¡°Badly how?¡± He frowned.


    ¡°Fookin¡¯ heroez wrecking our home¡­¡± Jaqueline grumbled.


    ¡°If¡­ you¡¯re in danger of being attacked¡­ wouldn¡¯t a sort of mobile fortress be an idea?¡± He wondered, remembering his earlier idea for the Ship Eater.


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­ We don¡¯t have the zuppliez for a proper fortrezz, and if we did that¡¯z the kind of thing that once we built we wouldn¡¯t be able to take down. The big guy would be ztuck with that for life.¡± Jaqueline explained while patting the Ship Eater.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°Not that bad for them if we build it light.¡± Jaqueline admitted. ¡°Zome of the older onez actually have a more zteady food zupply because stupid fookin¡¯ heroez think the fort has treasure baiting them for the Ship Eater¡¯z next meal.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± (That¡­ is a survival strategy.)


    ¡°But like I zaid, we don¡¯t have the zuppliez for that. At best we could build a zmall watchtower, and we could remove that easy.¡± Jaqueline shrugged. ¡°Though of course we could build nothing, and zave the zpace for when we really need it.¡±


    ¡°Which could be a waste, especially if we can tear it down and build something else.¡± He pointed out.


    ¡°Perhapz,¡± Jaqueline nodded before climbing back to her feet. ¡°But that¡¯z zomething, we can zettle after the celebration.¡±


    ¡°Celebration?¡± He blinked, before realizing they were nearing the old cathedral-like structure the Jaegerjaques had built their home around. Something that was mostly pointed out by how many Jaegerjaques were standing around and staring at them.


    Before he could realize what was happening Jaqueline had already grabbed him by his wrist, pulled him to his feet, and raised his gloved hand into the air. ¡°Boyz and Galz Ya Overlord Returnz Victoriouz!!!¡±


    All around them the Jaegerjaques erupted into cheers as they all came out of the woodwork to inspect the Ship Eater that was preening under all of the attention.


    Cheers that he hadn¡¯t heard in¡­ ever. (There weren¡¯t even this many cheers when I married Annabelle¡­)


    An arm wrapped around his shoulders, drawing his attention back to Jaqueline. ¡°Come on, boss. Now ain¡¯t the time for that mopey stuff, now¡¯z the Time To Party!!!¡±


    The cheers renewed once more.


    ¡°Someone get out the booze!¡±


    That just made them louder.


    New Minion Acquired


    Ship Eater


    -Worker Tags: None


    -Combat Tags: Transport, Bruiser, Infiltrator


    -Social Tags: Lazy, Puppy-Like


    -Special Abilities:


    --Living Island: This unit is essentially a living island and can be used as a Construction space. Anything built here can be transferred to any location that this unit can move to.


    ---(Note: If a building progresses too far down its upgrade tree it will become a permanent attachment.)


    --Ambush Predator: Unless scouted this unit begins Combat [Hidden]. This unit deals double damage when attacking from Stealth.


    --Massive: This unit has higher HP and Attack than other units of its Rank, but rises in population caps faster. (I.E. 1 Ship Eater is the same Pop Level as 2 Dozen Jaegerjaques.)


    Construction Tutorial


    -From time to time we¡¯ll be given the option to expand or upgrade our base, in order to do this we¡¯ll need to meet certain requirements be they producing certain materials or having certain worker types.


    -Worker Tags are non-negotiable, and you must meet the minimum requirements in order to build something. That said, Production can fall short at the price of extending how many Turns it will take to build something.


    -Should we exceed the Production and Worker requirements of a project, then we¡¯ll be able to assign the excess to a second completable project. (Just as if with lower Production levels.)


    What should the Jaegerjaques start building?


    Current Productions In Use: 2/2 Meat, 2/2 Vegetation, 0/1 Wood, 0/1 Stone


    Current Workers In Use: 0/1 Humanoid, 0/1 Base Builder


    []-Supply transport. (Build Time 1 Turn, Requires: 1 Wood, 1 Stone, 1 Humanoid)


    []-Food transport. (Build Time 1 Turn, Requires: 1 Wood, 1 Stone, 1 Humanoid)


    []-A defensive post. (Build Time 1 Turn, Requires: 1 Wood, 1 Stone, 1 Humanoid, 1 Base Builder.)


    []-Mobile Farm. (Build Time 1 Turn, Requires: 1 Wood, 1 Stone, 1 Humanoid, 1 Base Builder)


    []-Leave it be for now. (Can choose later when you have more options.)

 2024 Patreon Quest Demo 2 of 3 (The Black Briar Library)

    The Black Briar Library (An Eldritch Library Deck Builder)


    -Synopsis: The Black Briar Library is a place that exists between Dreams and Reality, connected to the Akashic Records the massive library collects the stories of any person that catches the interest of its Eldritch Chairman.


    Of course ''Collecting'' means many things, and is left up to the discretion of the Library''s many librarians. A group of misfits and outcasts whose solace was in the quiet depths of the libraries that housed the fantastical stories they loved so much that the Chairman couldn''t help but welcome them.


    Which is why the Chairman turns to you and asks, will you be one of her Librarians? Will you record the story of the Black Briar Library itself?


    -Tags: [Switchable Protagonists], [Each Campaign = A Story Derivative], [Dimensional Travelers]


    The Black Briar Library


    --- ??? ---


    Books of all shapes, sizes, and colors lay upon the atrium¡¯s gray tile floors, and where they don¡¯t lay on the floor they are carefully placed upon towering black bookshelves with rose vines lovingly carved into them.


    A light shines through the atrium, filling in everything with color despite the fact that there is no visible source for it, and the shadows linger in such a way that the direction they come from cannot be determined.


    Just past this light exists a foggy darkness where anything can linger and lurk, a shifting of shadows stating quite clearly that something is doing just that.


    That something¡¯s eyes stare for but a moment before disappearing.


    ¡°Hello there!¡± A cheery voice greeted, revealing a young dark haired woman that had most certainly not been there just a few seconds prior. ¡°You¡¯re looking a little¡­ lost, is there something I can do to help you?¡±


    The young woman waits for an answer, but none comes forth.


    ¡°Ah, I see¡­ You¡¯re dreaming not Dreaming¡­¡± The young woman frowned, looking a little disappointed, a look that slowly shifted into curiosity. ¡°If you¡¯re not a guest, then I wonder how you wandered into here?¡±


    Once more there was no answer to the young woman¡¯s question, but this time she was significantly less concerned by this fact.


    ¡°You must really like reading if you made it here¡­ Hmm¡­¡± The young woman crossed her arms and began tapping her head while mumbling, ¡°Thinking¡­ Thinking¡­ Thinking¡­¡±


    The young woman¡¯s eyes suddenly burst open as she grew an excited smile. ¡°Oh! That¡¯s an idea! Hold on just one moment please!¡±


    With that request stated, the young woman ran off, disappearing into the darkness just past the atrium¡¯s lights.


    ¡°Here you are!¡± The young woman called from behind, appearing opposite the direction she¡¯d left via not one second later with a flyer in hand. ¡°I know you can¡¯t really answer me right now because you''re just dreaming, but I figured if you¡¯re here then that means you must really like stories! And well I could really use a bit more help around here¡­ so if you want maybe you could think about working here at the library where you can get as many stories as you want! Maybe, if you want, pretty please?¡±


    The young woman held the flyer out for a moment, the words upon it a jumbled mess, before hitting her knuckles on her head. ¡°Oh right, of course you can¡¯t read the flyer humans can¡¯t read in their dreams¡­¡± She sighed, before mumbling a quiet, ¡°I always forget that¡­¡±


    Not letting this miscalculation get her down, the young woman coughed into her hand. ¡°Alright, well since I can¡¯t really hand this to you now, I¡¯ll send it to you! The library¡¯s delivery boy, is the goodest boi in all of the Black Briar!¡±


    The young woman gave an embarrassed look. ¡°I just, uh, need to figure out who you are first¡­¡±


    Who are you? (Choose our starting character.)


    []-The Exhausted War Veteran


    -Starting Deck: Smoke of War (Spell Focus)


    -Library Days: Early (1-2 Existing Librarians), High Library Development Influence.


    []-The Runaway Dark One


    -Starting Deck: Familiar Darkness (Minion Focus)


    -Library Days: Mid (3-4 Existing Librarians), Mid-Library Development Influence.


    []-The Normal College Student


    -Starting Deck: Black Briar Basics (Mixed Focus)


    -Library Days: Late (5-6 Existing Librarians), Low Library Development Influence.


    Winning Vote


    []-The Exhausted War Veteran


    ---


    Chapter 1: A Magical Job Offer


    --- Gregory Fischer ---


    Slowly his eyes opened up as he dragged his dazed mind from the delightful depth of dreams that he¡¯d been a part of and back into the world he was sadly more familiar with.


    Despite being awake however he found himself laying on his mattress for another thirty minutes, his exhausted body wishing to fall back asleep even as his mind forced him to stay awake in spite of the ache behind his eyes.


    Eventually a mix of his various morning needs was enough to get him to reluctantly roll out of bed to start taking care of them with a trip to the bathroom and a cold shower.


    Stepping out of the shower he pulled on a pair of half faded jeans, a white button up, and to at least pretend he was capable of being an adult a black vest before slipping on his glasses and taking a look at his reflection.


    A thirty-something man with brown stubble on his face and rings around brown eyes looked back at him with an exhausted grimace as he tied his shoulder length hair into a ponytail, the most effort he could put into his grooming today.


    Pushed on by a hollowness in his stomach he made his way to his kitchen before throwing a couple slices of leftover pizza in the microwave for breakfast. The paper plate went into the trash because actual plates were too much work to clean, and the paper ones were cheap.


    With all of that taken care of he stepped out of his spartan white apartment filled with used brown furniture and a couple of overflowing bookshelves, before making his way downstairs to the small repair shop below.


    ¡°Finally up?¡± Toni asked, the mechanic looking up from where she was tinkering away at a metal cylinder. ¡°Was starting to think I was going to have to drag you out.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ not today.¡± He grimaced, running a hand through his hair as he reached for the cigarettes in his pocket.


    Toni spun around in her chair before giving him a once over with her hazel eyes. ¡°Well at least your clothes are clean today.¡±


    ¡°Look who¡¯s talking.¡± He scoffed, flicking his fingers towards her oil stained overalls as he lit his cigarette.


    ¡°The difference is that this is a work outfit.¡± Toni scoffed right back, before pulling out the scrunchy she was using to hold her long ginger hair out of her way. ¡°Also I got something for you in the mail.¡±


    ¡°I got mail?¡± He asked in confusion since the only person who knew where he lived was Toni and he just gave her all of his money since the building and everything in it was in her name.


    ¡°Yeah, a job offer.¡± His one friend told him as she offered him an envelope from her desk before seeing his face. ¡°It¡¯s not the usual kind, it¡¯s for a library or some shit.¡±


    ¡°A library?¡± He repeated, not with interest but with much less hostility than his normal reaction to a ¡®job offer¡¯ as he opened the envelope, uncaring that Toni had already read it.


    (Dearest Guest Gregory Fischer,


    Having caught our interest as a loyal guest, we at the Black Briar Library would like to invite you in aiding us in the preservation and distribution of stories from across creation.


    Should you be interested in this offer, please go to your preferred library promptly for a face to face interview where you can inquire any details you desire.


    Sincerely The Head Librarian, Briar Black.)


    ¡°This isn¡¯t from the local library, and that¡¯s the only one I actually visit.¡± He frowned, getting the feeling that this was going to be more like his usual ¡®jobs¡¯ than he wanted as he eyed the emblem of a black rose surrounded by black thorns at the bottom.


    ¡°Sounds like it¡¯s for some kind of literary preservation group or something, figure it shouldn¡¯t be too dangerous if it involves books.¡± Toni shrugged as she watched him.


    ¡°Depends on the books.¡± He grumbled, scratching at the stubble on his neck as he tried to remember where he¡¯d heard of this ¡®Black Briar Library¡¯ before. ¡°You sure you¡¯ve never heard of this group before? Because I can swear I have, I just can¡¯t place where.¡±


    ¡°Maybe you heard about them at the actual library? You spend enough time there.¡± Toni pointed out.


    He didn¡¯t think that was it but, ¡°Maybe¡­¡±


    ¡°You going to look into it?¡± Toni asked with a careful neutrality that covered up both her concern and frustration to everyone but him, and that was only because he knew it could be there.


    ¡°I needed to get some new books anyway.¡± He sighed, because usually the library and its books were an escape from his work and all the other troubles he had with the real world.


    Mixing the two left a distinctly bad taste in his mouth that his cigarettes couldn¡¯t quite overcome.


    ¡°Good.¡± Toni nodded before putting her hair back into a ponytail as she went back to her work. ¡°If you do accept their job, be sure to stop back here before you go anywhere else.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not an idiot.¡± He scoffed as he started towards the shop¡¯s backdoor, not really ready to deal with the people that would be cluttering the main street just yet.


    ¡°Yes you are!¡± His only friend called after him.


    Once out on the streets he found himself taking an instinctively long drag of his cigarette, the chemicals within soothing the rampant nerves he got whenever he had to leave one of the two places he actually felt comfortable. (At least the back alley isn¡¯t as overcrowded as the main street¡­)


    Not that that made him feel any better as he could still hear the hustle and bustle right around the corner and that brought him a whole other kind of anxiety, even if he preferred the anxiety of the unknown to the anxiety of people. A quantity that was nowhere near unknown.


    The fact that it took him two more cigarettes to actually get moving was part of why he¡¯d taken the backdoor rather than the front, because Toni -in her well meaning if blunt way- would¡¯ve forced him to get moving after the first if she knew he was still lingering.


    (Going to need to get more soon¡­) He frowned, realizing he was already half-way down his last pack, the skull marked carton only having a handful of the white sticks left. (Might need to accept this job just to pay for them¡­)


    With a sigh he stuffed the carton back into his pocket and started making his way towards the library, his eyes focused upward towards the numerous tall buildings that made up the cramped city streets, watching the dark gray smoke coming from his cigarette rather than the people that were around him. More than aware that if he focused on them he¡¯d end up stressing himself out far worse as he played numerous possibilities and impossibilities out in his head.


    The hike to the library was a long one that took him over an hour to make, a time he could easily half twice over if he was willing to take a bus but¡­ (That many people in that small of a space with me is¡­ it¡¯s just a bad idea¡­)


    And so after an hour of taking as many backstreet and sidealley shortcuts as he could -both to get there at a half-way decent time and to avoid the crowds- as well as killing three more cigarettes, he found himself staring up at the steps to the city library.


    His only real sanctuary outside of Toni¡¯s shop.


    Making his way up the steps, he found once more that in spite of the large amount of foot traffic on the road proper he was the only one actually going into the library. (Something about how people would far prefer to simply read on dataslates and similar than to read actual books.)


    Even Toni thought his preference for an actual book in his hands was odd, mostly keeping her mouth shut since it was one of the few things he was actually willing to leave the house for. Sometimes with a drop of enthusiasm even.


    And so like many times before he stepped into the library, savoring the way the marble walls dampened the sound from the bustling city surrounding them. (Wait¡­)


    His eyes darted around the library he stepped into, because unlike the small one he was almost intimately familiar with, this one was far grander. The smaller library¡¯s warm browns and bright whites had been replaced by cool gray and dark black as the atrium stood a dozen times larger and with a hundred times as many books as the library he was used to.


    The door clicked shut behind him as he¡¯d carelessly let it hundreds of times before, only sounding significantly more ominous and final with the way it echoed through the building.


    ¡°Shit!¡± He cursed before rushing back and forcing the door open, afraid he¡¯d¡­ find the library steps that he¡¯d just walked up and the rest of the city as busy as it ever was.


    (Fuck¡­) He grimaced, realizing he was having one of his episodes, before turning back to the library and¡­ finding that it was still the dark library he¡¯d walked into and not some kind of hallucination. ¡°The hell?¡±


    Blinking, he stepped outside before closing the door and opening it once more to find the scene unchanged. ¡°Okay¡­¡±


    Taking a few steps back he gave the outside of the library a once over and noted how the building was definitely incapable of containing the one he¡¯d seen. (Not that means much given some of the things I¡¯ve seen¡­)


    He once more stepped into the library before doing the (stupidly suicidal) thing and closing the door behind him.


    After counting to ten, he opened the door once more and saw that he was still able to leave and go back to the city if he wanted to. Meaning that he wasn¡¯t trapped here, (or that whoever set this up can¡¯t kill it on demand¡­)


    Ignoring his paranoia he left the door open as he made his way into the library, his eyes darting around trying to take in every detail to figure out what was going on, before pausing as he noticed the image of a large black rose surrounded by black thorns on the floor.


    ¡°The Black Briar Library¡­¡± He realized upon matching the insignia with his surroundings.


    He took another look around the massive shelves, his eyes briefly focusing on the shadowy patches of darkness between them where he could swear he saw something move before moving on. (Definitely not an ordinary library¡­)


    This wasn¡¯t the weirdest thing he¡¯d ever seen in his line of work, but it was getting up there, if in presentation alone.


    ¡°Hello?¡± He eventually called as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the folded up letter Toni had given him. ¡°My name is Gregory Fischer and I was given this letter about a job offer!¡±


    There were a series of thumps behind him.


    He turned around swiftly, his hands half raised into a stance before noticing a trio of pillars standing in a quarter circle each with a medium sized book on it.


    Cautiously he approached the pillars and once he was close enough to read their covers he couldn¡¯t help but scoff, ¡°Putting my name on a bunch of books¡­ real cute.¡±


    The fact that he could see himself using these titles for books about him was only mildly unnerving, the fact that he could take a guess at the subject matter of each book based on the titles was the thing that really bothered him.


    He blinked as a white page fluttered in front of him carried by a breeze he couldn¡¯t feel.


    Snatching the page out of the air he read, (The interview has begun, Please Select A Book.)


    He inhaled before exhaling. (I knew this was going to be a pain in the ass¡­)


    Please Choose A Book (Hint: Starter Deck)


    []-Ashes of War, The Remnant of Gregory Fischer


    []-Flames of War, The Guilt of Gregory Fischer


    []-Smoke of War, The Deception of Gregory Fischer


    ---


    Book I: The Remnant of Gregory Fischer: Chapter I


    --- Gregory Fischer ---


    Deciding that this wasn¡¯t the weirdest interview he¡¯d been through given his current profession, he looked the books over once more while re-reading the titles in what he knew was chronological order. (The Flames of War¡­ No, don¡¯t want anything to do with that again. Smoke of War¡­ I¡­ I don¡¯t think I want to know how much they know about that¡­)


    Which left him with the third and final book, the one that he knew represented the current state of his life, (Ashes of War, the Remnant of Gregory Fischer¡­)


    The moment he took the book off the pillar, the other two books disappeared in a brief flash of light, so small that he¡¯d think it a trick of his mind if he didn¡¯t know better.


    He looked around the empty library before sighing as he realized this ¡®test¡¯ wouldn¡¯t be over until he actually read the book he¡¯d chosen.


    With no small amount of reluctance he opened the book¡¯s cover before it sprung open on its own, numerous pages flipping across, far more than could actually be contained in a book that could fit in one hand. As these pages flipped with an ever growing speed, some of them managed to escape their bindings and flutter through the air, soon followed by more and more until he was completely surrounded by a veritable storm of paper flying through the air.


    ¡°Once upon a time, there was a soldier named Gregory Fischer.¡± An echoing voice said, the paper parting just enough to show a picture of him in his brown uniform saluting.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± He yelled over the fluttering paper as the picture flew away.


    ¡°Gregory was a good little soldier who followed orders, no matter how much he hated them.¡± The voice continued as the paper parted once more to show him standing over a street littered in bodies flames eating away at the edge.


    ¡°Who the fuck are you?!¡± He cried, his mind unable to help but wonder if this was all some elaborate set-up of some kind. Pay back for the things he¡¯d done, the things he regretted.


    ¡°Until he was given an order he couldn¡¯t follow.¡± The pages parted once more to show him holding a file in his hand with a terrified look as he stood in front of a smiling man in a suit.


    A chill went down his spine as he realized what this was about.


    ¡°So he didn¡¯t.¡± The voice declared as it showed him burning the file from before.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± He admitted, steeling himself. ¡°And I don¡¯t regret it!¡± (If they¡¯re coming for me because of that¡­ then I¡¯ll deal with it.)


    ¡°The men he viewed as his brothers abandoned him for failing to follow his duty¡­¡± The voice continued uncaring for his words as it showed him sitting in a canteen by himself, a clear gap between him and everyone else.


    ¡°What¡­ what¡¯s the point of this?!¡± He asked the voice.


    ¡°Shame filled him¡­ Not because of the order he rejected, but because of all those he didn¡¯t¡­¡± An image of him clutching his head while surrounded by smoke appeared, the smoke parting just long enough to see things he¡¯d rather not remember.


    ¡°Why are you doing this?!¡± He pleaded, closing his eyes as he couldn¡¯t bear to see anymore reminders of his sins.


    ¡°Unable to do the job he was made for, they threw him out onto the streets¡­ A broken burned out husk of the man he once was¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up, shut up. Shut up!¡± He begged, eyes shut to hold in the tears and hands over his ears to block out the words.


    ¡°This is where our story will begin.¡±


    His eyes shot open as he glared upwards, ¡°What sto-ry¡­¡±


    (W-what?) He blinked, finding himself back in his room, the library and the pages from before nowhere to be seen. (Was¡­ was that all just a nightmare?)


    He shifted before frowning as he realized he was still dressed in his clothes, clothes he could not fall asleep in since the collar would always choke him, reminding him of when- (Don¡¯t think about it.)


    On guard he took a look around his room before finding several oddities, the most notable being how his walls were made of blank white pages. (No, that¡¯s not right¡­ The pages have something written on them¡­)


    He got up from his bed and made his way to the wall where he ran his fingers over the pages and noted how the script, while visible enough to see, looked as if it had been written and then erased. The words too faded for him to actually make anything out.


    ¡°I¡¯m still in the library¡­¡± He realized with a frown before taking another look around.


    The book was on his bed.


    He swallowed down his apprehensions before making his way over and cautiously inspected the only real clue to whatever was happening to him. (The name ¡®s changed¡­)


    Instead of reading ¡®Ashes of War, The Remnant of Gregory Fischer¡¯ the book¡¯s title had changed to ¡®Gregory Fischer, The Black Briar Librarian¡¯.


    ¡°Not if this is what I¡¯m going to be dealing with.¡± He scoffed, hoping the voice or whoever was running this shit show heard him.


    Knowing that there was only one way forward (since they didn¡¯t give me a door out of this room) he picked up the book.


    Not quite trusting the book, he opened the cover fully ready to throw the book away from him, but unlike what he expected, this book did not force itself open and start spewing another storm of script into the air.


    The only thing he found behind the cover was a dedication of sorts.


    (For Gregory Fischer, The Man Who Burned So Others Wouldn¡¯t Have To.)


    The scars on his arm ached, as he felt something in those words¡­


    ¡°So that¡¯s what this is¡­¡± He huffed, not sure how he felt about¡­ any of this.


    Instead of dealing with any of that, he ignored the knot in his chest and turned the page to the table of contents.


    The table of contents was divided into five sections: Synopsis, Current Story, Volumes Collected, Personal Library, and Working Draft. Under each of these sections were several more chapters, though the actual names of said chapters were illegibly written in a script that almost seemed to move across the page. The exception being Ashes of War under Working Draft.


    (Okay¡­ Now the question is what any of this means¡­)


    He flipped a few pages, landing himself in the Synopsis where-


    (A scream tore loose from his throat, almost as loud as the roar of the flame that devoured his arm.)


    (Smoke flooded his lungs, choking him with every breath as he stumbled ever forward in pursuit of his goal.)


    (All around him ashes floated through the air, painting the world gray as they left him alone with the dead.)


    -he slammed the book shut, his heart pounding against his ribcage as if were trying to flee from the memories that had just been forced out from the depths of his mind.


    Desperate hands searched his pockets for his cigarette, before pulling one out and lighting it with a panicking fervor for any relief from the panic that consumed him.


    He inhaled deeply, the cherry burning bright before exhaling a cloud as dark as his terror.


    Once he felt something halfway resembling calm -a state that took him at least five more sticks- he turned his attention back to the (dangerous) book he¡¯d left on the book. Its closed cover innocently gazing up at him.


    He stared back at the book until his latest cigarette was nothing but ash, before with shaking hands he opened the book once more and stared at the word Synopsis.


    It took but a moment for him to realize what Synopsis really meant, (the Synopsis of Gregory Fischer¡­ My¡­ My entire life¡­)


    He may¡¯ve only seen a few brief glimpses of his past, but they were in such clarity it was as if he was reliving those moments. (Whatever magic makes this place up¡­ It¡¯s compressed my entire life into a single book¡­)


    Frightful eyes read over the table of contents with far more reverence, realizing that the page numbers for each section were made of the same moving script that made up the illegible chapter names.


    Taking a gamble, he put his thumb half way down the book before focusing on Current Story and flipping the book open once more.


    He couldn¡¯t help but flinch, expecting another deluge of traumatic memories as the book¡¯s contents were forced upon his mortal mind.


    When no such trauma came forth he took a cautious look at the page he¡¯d opened and found a detailed pen sketch of himself sitting at a desk while reading his book. Opposite this was more of the eldritch script from before, only this time he could parse through some of the contents as he read over what looked like a list of some kind counting or describing something.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Given how his name was written across the bottom of the pen portrait he had a fairly decent idea what these things were in reference to, even if he had to guess what some of these words meant due to the eldritch magic plucking the closest word from his mind rather than explaining them.


    (¡°Species: Human, Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy, Classification: Cyberpunk/Practitioner/Scrapper, Derivative Addendum: None.¡±) He wasn¡¯t entirely sure what all of that meant, but from what he could understand it was all sort of fitting with what he knew about himself.


    At the very least it was significantly easier to understand than everything else on the page as words were replaced with symbols that he could vaguely recognize. (Slash, Blunt, Pierce, Mind, Spirit, Fire, Ice, Electric, Light, and Darkness¡­ With a skull over Mind, a shield over Fire and Ice, and an equal sign over everything else¡­ So Mind is bad while Fire and Ice protect and everything else is even?)


    That didn¡¯t seem quite right, even if he could see an angle where he understood it.


    Beneath that odd assortment of symbols were a number of small squares, most of which were empty but a handful of which had small ink sketches similar to his own alongside what he was fairly certain was a page number in whatever eldritch script this book was using.


    He focused on the first symbol and flipped the pages, figuring the book would open to it just as it had to whatever this overview of himself constituted.


    When the pages stopped he found himself staring at another pen drawn image that he vaguely recognized as himself -if with the details blurred- performing a rather straightforward punch.


    On the opposite side was even more eldritch writing, though far less detailed and with far less information than the one that had been focused on his entirety. (¡°Opening Strike. Cost: 1 Blank Page. Blunt Melee. An opening strike to unleash greater combos, the foundation of something greater for all martial artists. A Quick Read for Scrappers, Bruisers, and Infiltrators.¡±)


    After reading that he reexamined the picture, before recognizing that the image was of the exact same punch his style of fighting used to engage his opponent while still being capable of flowing into any other set of strikes.


    (So¡­ the book is also dissecting my abilities?) He frowned before flipping back to the Current Story and seeing that he only seemed to have five as far as the book was concerned. Which was all kinds of wrong given how he had learned, developed, and mastered his style of fighting during the war.


    Just to prove that point he set the book back on his bed before attempting one of his more advanced combos and promptly stumbling through the final few motions. ¡°Okay¡­ maybe I¡¯m a little rustier than I thought¡­¡±


    He was sure his ¡®work¡¯ had kept his edge from dulling, (then again most of my jobs are pretty straightforward¡­ Never need to bring out anything really fancy¡­)


    With a frown his eyes glanced back at the book and the few skills he had that it recognized, before clenching his fists. He wasn¡¯t a prideful man by any measure, often thinking worse of himself than anyone else, but¡­


    He let out a sigh, not entirely sure what the point of all this was. He already knew he was nothing more than a remnant of what he once was. (Isn¡¯t that what the first book underlined?)


    Deciding dwelling on his failings wasn¡¯t going to get him out of wherever he was he went back to inspecting the other sections of the book, only to find both Volumes Collected and Personal Library to be empty.


    The final section, the one labeled Working Draft, however had what could best be described as a brainstorming page with a central circle where ¡®Ashes of War¡¯ was written with a number of circles branching off from it.


    Above this central circle was one labeled Prologue and focusing on it caused him to remember the words the voice had told him during the storm of pages with perfect clarity as well as the images he¡¯d seen. An effect very similar to when he¡¯d tried to read his own Synopsis if not quite as powerful.


    Three other circles broke off from the central concept, each one with a few other words connected to them but rendered illegible due to the way the eldritch script moved across the page. These circles were labeled Act 1: Depression, Act 2: Opportunity, and Act 3: Rekindling.


    A series of events that made him more confident in his guess at just what the person orchestrating all of this wanted from him.


    He took another look around the copy of his room, fully aware that he was currently trapped in ¡®Act 1¡¯ and if he wanted out of this place he¡¯d have to work his way through all three acts somehow. (But how?)


    If he had to actually overcome his depression, then he might as well roll over and die given how long he¡¯d been battling that particular demon with no success.


    A loud thunk drew his attention behind him, where he found a small black pen colliding with his boot.


    With a frown he plucked the writing instrument from the ground before looking between it and the book in his hand. Namely the handful of blank spaces that remained untouched in spite of all the eldritch script dancing across the page.


    ¡°This¡­ is either a really good or a really bad idea¡­¡±


    What do you write in your book? (1-3 Word Prompt.)


    []-Write-In Comments Submitted By Readers


    Death by cigarettes


    Burning a library


    ---


    Book I: The Remnant of Gregory Fischer: Chapter II


    --- Gregory Fischer ---


    He put the pen to the page and found his mind drawing a blank, as if all creative muse decided that now was the time to abandon him instead of aiding in his writing as requested.


    With a sigh he ran a hand through his hair before reaching for another cigarette, hoping that lighting the stick would light something in his imagination. And lo and behold it did¡­


    Unfortunately, the single muse he¡¯d gotten apparently decided to be something of a smart ass as the only thing he could think to write as he finished off his latest cigarette was the fact that his story would probably end with ¡®Death by Cigarettes¡¯.


    As he wrote the final letter of that message he watched eldritch script begin to creep and crawl away from the words he¡¯d written, slowly consuming the entire page before spreading out into the very air around him.


    He watched the writing cautiously, waiting for it to do something, anything that might help him figure out how he was supposed to get out of this apartment. All around him the cloud of script began to condense into piles of discarded cigarette packs and buds, littering the room in a level of waste that (honestly isn¡¯t as bad as my worst.)


    (Okay, so writing something in the book causes something to happen around me.) He realized, waving a hand through the air to try and shoo away the cloud of script that was slowly consuming the illusion of his room. (I just need to figure out how to work this into an escape¡­)


    He inhaled before letting out a cough and covering his mouth with his shirt. (Damn, it¡¯s getting smoky in here¡­)


    Despite some of it being spent to add to the ever growing pile of cigarettes, the cloud of eldritch script seemed to continue growing. Something that he could have dealt with if not for the fact that the cloud almost seemed to be pursuing him as he backed away, making it harder and harder to breathe as he continued to cough.


    (What the hell? This isn¡¯t how smoke behaves¡­) He gasped, unable to help but bend over as the coughing grew bad enough that he ended up dropping both the book and the pen.


    In front of him the book didn¡¯t shift a single page even as it bounced twice and the pen went rolling under the bed.


    This was how he was reminded that he¡¯d written ¡®Death By Cigarettes¡¯ into the book.


    ¡°Ah, fu-cah!¡±


    He dropped to his knees, scrabbling for the pen, his breathing grew ever more painful and shallow with every cough that tore through his throat.


    Bit by bit his thoughts grew hazy as his hand blindly grasped around for the pen only to grasp onto empty cigarette packs and burned out butts. (Shit, shit, shit! Where is it? Where is it?!)


    The world around him grew darker and darker, half because of the ever growing cloud of writing and half because of the ever shrinking air in the room.


    His hand wrapped around something cold and hard, and with what strength was still in him he brought the pen to the book and began blindly scribbling away at the page, unable to form a thought coherent enough to actually write anything down.


    As the last of his strength left him and he found himself without the strength to hold himself up any longer, the pen slipped out of his hand and he collapsed to the ground.


    The eldritch script continued to float through the air for several more minutes, even as it slowly faded away alongside the numerous cigarette packs and butts that littered his room.


    It wasn¡¯t until the last of it had finally disappeared into oblivion that he found the strength to once more pick himself up, even if he lacked enough to do much more than fall onto his ass and lean against his bed for support as he simply enjoyed the fact that he could breathe.


    He stared up at the ceiling for several moments before deciding. ¡°I¡¯m going to burn that library to the ground. In fact¡­¡±


    Yet again he took the book and pen in hand, he felt a brief moment of fear because of how close this wretched thing had brought him to death. Something that he¡¯d no doubt be inviting once more if he were to write anything else in this book, his instincts warned.


    Rather than listening to those thoughts, he promptly stamped them out before using them to feed the smoldering rage in his chest as he wrote ¡®Surviving Death¡¯ underneath Act 1: Depression, followed by ¡®An Invitation Arrived¡¯ under Act 2: Opportunity, and finally under Act 3: Rekindling he wrote ¡®Burning A Library¡¯.


    Once more the eldritch text erupted from the book, this time with far more force than the slowly creeping death that was the cloud of smoke.


    All around the room first aid kits and spent bandages appeared alongside bullet holes, blood spatter, burn marks, and dead bodies wearing kevlar, making the whole space look like a war zone shortly after the worst of it. (Really starting to feel like home¡­)


    In spite of the fact that he¡¯d nearly died to them he still pulled a cigarette out and lit it, the chemicals hidden within the burnable stick the only thing keeping him from trying to set this building on fire. Whether from fear or rage he wasn¡¯t sure. (We¡¯ll find out when I snap, I guess.)


    Opposite him, the handless door to this room swung open, leading to the rest of the house looking just as torn up as the current room and leaving him with little doubt what he¡¯d find out there.


    And so with a reluctance of expected horrors he walked through the building, making his way down to Toni¡¯s workshop where he stopped in front of the door. (So help me if they have a dead clone of Toni in here¡­)


    Knowing what he was probably going to be walking into, he put his current cigarette out on the doorframe before pulling out a special pack of smokes he always kept on him and taking a steeling inhalation of the chems coating the inside of his cigarette.


    Not even two breaths later he could feel a warmth filling his lungs as he pushed the door open and stepped inside to find a scene even more out of a horror story than the rest of the house. The entire workshop having been torn apart with bloody tools littering the ground and corpses dead upon the heavier machinery their blood still dripping onto the ground. (Fuck, is this what the book considers ¡®surviving death¡¯?)


    As luck would have it, despite his worst fears, he didn¡¯t find a copy of Toni¡¯s body anywhere, instead her main workbench had a massive burn mark with a half cremated corpse underneath it. On the wall some of the ashes had been wiped away, leaving behind a very pointed message.


    If you want the girl


    Come to the Black Briar Library


    ¡°Someone is really testing my patience.¡± He growled, before looking towards the sky. ¡°Just so we¡¯re clear, I¡¯m willing to put up with whatever sick test all of this is, but if you¡¯ve actually taken her I am going to burn all of you- Fuck!¡± He screamed as a knife embedded itself into his back.


    A ripping sound filled the air as the knife was torn out of him, pulling several pages of fluttering paper away as it did so. (The hell? Wait, no time.)


    He turned to his attacker and found a man in black kevlar facing him with a knife in hand.


    ¡°So, you friends with the corpses?¡± He asked as he rolled his shoulder checking to see how much damage that knife had done to him, only (aside from the pain it doesn¡¯t feel like it actually did anything to me. Is this all part of the illusion?)


    The man didn¡¯t say anything before rushing him with the knife once more.


    Gregory threw the book at his assailant, causing the man to deflect it with a sweep of the arm at the cost of leaving himself unprotected for an opening strike to the chest and the series of strikes that followed it.


    Unlike what he¡¯d expected, the final strike of his combination did not meet flesh, but instead tore through the air as the man erupted into a flurry of pages.


    He narrowed his eyes at the pages as he inhaled a lungful of his cigarette, the cherry barely moving as he did so, before opening his mouth and- promptly coughing as he choked on the smoke.


    ¡°The hell?¡± He gasped, eyes wide. ¡°That, that hasn¡¯t happened since boot camp¡­¡±


    Something slammed into his forehead, sending him stumbling back a step even as he caught the book that had hit him, finding that it was his own book -(of fucking course)- and that it had once more fallen open to the page describing the opening strike he¡¯d just used.


    With a frown he turned back to ¡®Current Story¡¯ before looking at the five marks that he was guessing described the various abilities he had. Not one of which really made use of his Smoke or his Fire.


    ¡°My skills may be¡­ rusty, but there is no way in hell I lost a decades worth of abilities. Especially not ones I know I could use just a week ago.¡± Admittedly, he hadn¡¯t been using that for combat so much as helping Toni with something, (but still¡­)


    Just to check this he clicked an icon that looked like his cigarette smoking, the thing that he¡¯d thought had represented the skill he¡¯d just tried to use only to find instead of his abilities¡­


    (¡°Basic Chem Smokes.


    Cost: 1 Fantasy or Sci-Fi Page.


    Consumable


    The culmination of research into creating a combat enhancement formula. Highly addictive, both due to the power and the chemicals within. This is but the simplest of the series.


    Quick Read. Increase Power and Speed of the user until their next reading Turn.


    Checkout Renewal Fee (1 Fantasy or Sci-Fi Page).¡±)


    He inhaled before exhaling and deciding that while his ¡®special smokes¡¯ weren¡¯t common knowledge, they also weren¡¯t something that a group with the Black Briar Library¡¯s apparent resources couldn¡¯t easily find out about. (What is surprising though is the fact that these aren¡¯t the smokes I had on me¡­ Though it would explain why I couldn¡¯t do what I was planning.)


    Just to be sure he double checked the pack he had on him and found that they were still the actual mix of Black Cough, Anima Blue, and Red Fury that he usually carried on him. (So why didn¡¯t the one I use work how it was supposed to¡­ Wait¡­)


    He recounted the number of Chem Smokes in the pack. ¡°This is the same amount I had this morning¡­ Then¡­¡± He pulled out the cigarette he was currently smoking. ¡°Where did you come from?¡±


    As if to answer this question the burning cigarette came apart, turning into several pages of paper that fell out of his hand before merging into the book he was carrying. (I see¡­)


    Once more he pulled one of his smokes from the pack -this time not doing so blindly- and lit it before inhaling deeply and breaking into another coughing fit, even as a familiar chem filled warmth entered his chest.


    ¡°Still not what I was going for¡­¡± He gasped, as he checked the pack of cigarettes and yet again found that the one he¡¯d just removed had been returned to its previous place. (Alright, so this library is even more screwy than I already thought it was¡­)


    Flipping back to his Current Story, he checked the remaining three slots that apparently represented not his skills in general but rather the things he was allowed to use for this increasingly annoying test. (Let¡¯s see, all in all I¡¯ve got ¡®Opening Strike¡¯, ¡®Swift Dodge¡¯, ¡®Heated Fist¡¯, ¡®Basic Chem Smokes¡¯, and¡­)


    He paused and reread that last one, before checking his arm and frowning when it looked no different than usual. (I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m just going to ignore that one for now¡­)


    ¡°Either way, none of that included the rest of the strikes I used on that guy.¡± He sighed, running a hand through his hair as he tried to figure out what exactly was happening here. (I guess if Heated Fist is here then that means it¡¯s only applying restrictions to some of my abilities?) ¡°But what¡¯s deciding what gets restricted and what I¡¯m allowed to do?¡±


    Regardless of anything else, he was fighting with a handicap he didn¡¯t understand (and that¡¯s the kind of thing that can get you killed.)


    Then again, he was already planning on burning down the library for putting him through all of this, and given everything it seemed capable of (that might be a suicide mission all it¡¯s own.)


    Shaking his head he made his way to the door to the workshop before walking into it as it refused to open for him. ¡°Gah, what is it now?!¡±


    He flipped the book open to Working Draft, trying to figure out what the stupid thing wanted from him now before once more finding the words he¡¯d added to the second act. ¡°An invitation arrived¡­ Right¡­¡±


    Looking up from the book, his eyes searched the room for wherever the invitation could be hiding, (since apparently it¡¯s not the literal invitation on the wall.) Eventually he found an envelope sitting atop a small pile of pages that he was guessing had once been a part of the construct he¡¯d killed.


    After picking the envelope up and finding it to be the exact same one Toni had given him earlier that day, just with more ash and blood on it, he also noticed that the pages underneath the envelope looked familiar for some reason.


    He folded and tucked the library invitation into his vest before also picking the pages up and going over them. Idly he noted that the door to the workshop had swung open not when he picked up the library invitation, but instead when he picked the actual pages up. (Meaning this is what they wanted me to actually grab.)


    Going over the pages he found that similar to the other ¡®Skill Pages¡¯ in the book, these ones described one of the many skills he knew and should¡¯ve been able to perform rust or no rust. More specifically he found that the technique depicted by the pages was a simple-


    ---


    Scene Choice


    A/N: Before we go into the Boss Fight, pick a Card.


    []- Parry.


    []- Grapple.


    []- Kickback.


    ---


    Book I: The Remnant of Gregory Fischer: Chapter III


    --- Gregory Fischer ---


    (¡°Simple Parry.


    Cost: 1 Blank Page.


    Defensive.


    A basic defensive maneuver that deflects an incoming strike, while hopefully leaving space for retaliation. A step further than blocking, but only the beginning of the defensive arts.


    Reactive Read. Negate an incoming attack.


    Checkout Renewal Fee: 1 Blank Page, for Scrappers and Infiltrators.¡±)


    Once more he understood most of what was written down, but there were still words that he lacked context for no matter how familiar they were becoming. (It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ve got enough to work with for now.)


    Deciding it was best to hold onto the page, given how it was the thing the Library actually wanted him to collect, he moved to put it in his book for safekeeping. Only when he brought the page close to the book he began to feel a force trying to pull it out of his hand.


    With a frown he tugged the page away from the book and felt the force stop before growing stronger as he brought it closer to the book. (They¡¯re almost magnetic with each other¡­)


    Figuring this was part of what the Library wanted him to see, he let the page go before watching it get sucked into the book where it seamlessly merged with the rest of the book, looking no different than any of the other skill pages he¡¯d read within.


    Just to check that he went back to his Current Story, and found that (yep, six marks for my¡­ Skills? Equipment? Both?)


    He shook his head as he closed the book, knowing that either he¡¯d figure out what was going on with the book or he¡¯d burn down the Library and the point would be moot. (Preferably the latter¡­)


    With nothing else left to do here, he turned his attention back to the exit door hanging open while leading out into a void that he was even more reluctant to deal with than the overcrowded city that he lived in.


    He pulled out one of his regular cigarettes, and found that the pack was almost empty. (If they gave infinite refills of these then I might¡¯ve forgiven them for all of this shit.)


    Still he lit up one of his cigarettes, more to calm his nerves than infuse himself with power, before stepping out into the void as confidently as he could, ready to kill whatever he found on the other side.


    Outside of the Library¡¯s recreation of Toni¡¯s workshop he found himself on an empty black street with a recreation of his city¡¯s library in front of him. (If this was how the city was actually laid out it would make my life a hell of a lot easier¡­)


    Not letting his guard down, his eyes instinctively searched the street for any hidden enemies as he crossed it, only to find the half-hearted recreation of the city to be apocalyptically empty. (Well, at least I don¡¯t have to deal with people, small mercies I suppose¡­)


    As he started up the stairs to the library he found his eyes drifting up to the sky above, before really wishing he hadn¡¯t.


    While the world around him was illuminated well enough to pass for the evening, the sky above him was an abyss of nothingness darker than black and emptier than the void. At least until you realized the abyss was moving.


    A massive bloodshot eye opened, staring down at him before a maw full of fangs grinned at him.


    ¡°Nope.¡± He decided, running up the stairs two at a time so as to get some cover between him and the thing that could crush him like a roach.


    He shoulder tackled the door to the library open, before slamming it shut behind him, and (really hoping that was just some kind of mind fucky illusion.)


    With his luck he knew it wasn¡¯t but¡­


    He shook his head, and took in the library he was inside of noting how instead of being the actual Black Briar Library it was a recreation of itself made from pages scrawled in so much text that might as well be black.


    Cautiously, he started forward until he was standing in the middle of the atrium over the insignia of a black rose. ¡°Well, I¡¯m here. I got your invitation. I¡¯m playing your little game. What do you want to do now? More men in black to try and kill me?¡±


    Silence was his only answer.


    Finishing off his cigarette, he dropped it on the ground and put it out under his heel. ¡°Fine, I¡¯ll figure it out myself.¡±


    Aware that the book had been the source of or answer to everything that had happened to him thus far, he pulled it out and began flipping through the pages until he once more found the ¡®Working Draft¡¯ section. (Okay, I survived Act 1, and I got the invitation from Act 2¡­) ¡°So why isn¡¯t the Library Burning for Act 3?¡±


    He was missing something.


    (Alright, so¡­ Library, Book, Story, Chapters, Drafts, and Acts¡­ Clearly there¡¯s a theme to all of this¡­ I survived death, thus beating Act 1: Depression. I got the invitation in Act 2 from those guys trying to kill me¡­ Which tied Act 1 and 2 together¡­ So to progress, I need to¡­ continue the narrative?) ¡°Which means burning the library down in vengeance.¡±


    While he wasn¡¯t one for book burning, he could happily make an exception in this case. (What¡¯s more they didn¡¯t take that particular option away from me either.)


    He flipped his book open to the page depicting his Heated Fist with a smirk.


    (¡°Heated Fist.


    Cost: 1 Fantasy or Science Fiction Page.


    Blunt Melee Fire.


    A technique born by fusing Martial Might with Technology or Magic to infuse one¡¯s fists with the power of the flame. The first true step to mastering the Fist of The Flame.¡±)


    He clenched his fist and drew on the power of the heat that was always smoldering within him, be it real or a hallucination. The air around his right arm began to shimmer, the heat bending the light around it before eventually actual flames began to lick away at him.


    Even if it wasn¡¯t as much as he¡¯d been hoping for, (there¡¯s plenty of kindling here to make it work.) All he had to do was introduce the fire to the pages around him and-


    He paused as he watched the shadows around him dance in the flame¡¯s light, quickly realizing that something was wrong about them. (The angle is all wrong, as if the flame was coming from-)


    With wide eyes he spun on his heel, and just barely managed to deflect a flaming fist before it could impact him. Not that that did anything to prevent the follow-up strike from hitting him in the chest and sending him flying with a trail of burning pages erupting behind him.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± He gasped as he hit the ground and bled the momentum to roll back onto his feet. ¡°Alright, who the hell¡­¡±


    He couldn¡¯t help but trail off as he saw the figure in front of him.


    For before him stood a man whose flesh was covered in flames that slowly devoured him as his face was trapped in a richter of rage and hate that wanted little more than to burn the entire world around.


    A face that he had worn once upon a time¡­


    (His world was nothing but pain and rage as he lashed out at anything in arm¡¯s reach, uncaring if they were friend or foe¡­)


    A face that was his¡­


    ¡°So we¡¯re doing more of this memory lane bullshit.¡± He swallowed before standing once more and taking a stance against his burning doppelganger, all the while trying very hard not to think about what had sent him into this particular rage.


    Around him the library shifted and swirled as his doppelganger¡¯s flames slowly devoured it all before leaving them standing on a burning street with bodies littering the ground unmoving.


    Small bodies.


    He flinched.


    The Hellish Echo of who he was rushed forward with a fist full of flames, and all he could do was raise his guard to defend against the onslaught of strikes that devoured him. Unable to bring himself to do much more in the face of his¡­ (failure.)


    Another blow impacted his face, hard enough that he knew it should¡¯ve broken something, but while he did feel the pain (I deserve) his body kept no damage as more and more pages burst from his body.


    With every blow the flames consuming his doppelganger grew brighter and brighter, the heat building to a sweltering point he hadn¡¯t felt in years.


    As the flames began to flicker white, the Hellish Echo¡¯s fist hit him once more, only this time instead of pages erupting from his form he felt his glasses crunch as the fist hit his face, filling him with a pain far more real than anything he¡¯d felt since stepping foot into the Library.


    The moment real heat touched him, instinct took over and twisted the flames away, minimizing how much of his flesh they could eat away at before he twisted to move via his Smoke. Only instead of the Smoke following his will, he found the world around him shifting with the fluttering of pages before finding himself behind his Hellish Echo with a trail of paper leading between them.


    (W-what?) He blinked, regaining some lucidity as he found his Book once more in his hands.


    One of the pages fluttered in front of him and he realized he recognized the page¡¯s contents from within his own book.


    (¡°Swift Dodge.


    Cost: 1 Blank page.


    Mobility.


    The most important thing any combatant can learn is how to move to avoid being hit. Even better if they can do so swiftly.


    Reactive Read. When attacked, move a short distance away.


    Checkout Renewal Fee: 1 Blank Page, for Scrappers and Infiltrators.¡±)


    He frowned as he read that, more so when the page faded into nothingness as it touched the ground. (That¡­ that¡¯s not what I thought that meant¡­ That was almost like my Smoke Dash but¡­ with paper¡­)


    Paper was not something he could work with. At least not the way he could Fire and Smoke.


    This¡­ oddity was enough to have him reevaluating the world around him. A world that while extremely similar to one of his more traumatic memories, was also just off enough to remind him that this was all some kind of fucked up illusion from the Library messing with him, not the usual night terrors that he subjected himself to.


    Something that just served to piss him off once more. (And I can work angry¡­)


    With a growl he snapped his book shut before tossing it to the side, not really caring if it burned or not as he glared at the Hellish Echo whose right arm was wreathed in white flames that seemed to lash out at the very world around them.


    He inhaled before exhaling as he once more took his stance. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s try this again.¡±


    The Hellish Echo snarled a sound inhuman, before rushing forward with another Heat Fist from the blazing white arm.


    Instead of letting it hit him this time, he parried the blow off with his own right arm before using an Opening Strike on the Echo¡¯s solar plexus and following up with a flurry of body shots that ended with a hook to the Echo¡¯s jaw.


    The Hellish Echo stumbled back a step before swinging its arm with a clawing motion.


    One that he more than recognized as he ducked under a wave of flames before delivering a Heat Fist infused uppercut of his own.


    A blow that touched nothing but smoke as the Hellish Echo Smoke Dashed away, before entering a boxing stance and punching out a series of crimson fireballs in his direction.


    More on returning instinct than anything else, he pulled on his own power to use Smoke Dash, only to instead use the odd Swift Dodge again to avoid the spell series that detonated behind him as he closed the distance between him and the Echo.


    Reappearing in front of the Hellish Echo he slipped one of his Chem Smokes into his mouth before ducking under a sloppy hook from the Echo and taking it a step further by twisting its flames to light his own cigarette.


    Inhaling deeply, he felt the power of the Smoke flood his body as he firmed his footing on the ground before delivering another Heat Fist to the Hellish Echo¡¯s stomach, the flames blooming twice as far as any of his previous blows.


    The Hellish Echo skidded back on its heels, not being sent flying like he himself had, before turning a snarling glare upon him.


    ¡°What? Getting tired?¡± He asked in between rough breaths of his own as took note of the slowly spreading patches of burned flesh on his doppelganger.


    This question seemed to only enrage the Hellish Echo further if that was possible, as it took a stance he recognized even if he hadn¡¯t used it in years. The doppelganger drawing its blazing arm back with its right leg as the flames dancing around it began to circle around the echo.


    He couldn¡¯t help but scoff, even as phantom pains began to eat away at his body, ¡°Trust me, when I say¡­you really don¡¯t want to do that¡­¡±


    Rather than heeding his warning, his doppelganger¡¯s arm grew even brighter, enough so that he couldn¡¯t look at it directly as he rushed forward, knowing that he could not let that spell hit him.


    The Hellish Echo punched, causing the entire world to flash a blinding white as a destructive white flame devoured everything in front of his doppelganger rendering everything it touched nothing but ash.


    Something that he was quite content to not witness again as he dropped to the ground and dove through the far less dangerous red flames that had gathered around the Echo¡¯s feet. Even if he could still feel them burning him as he worked his magic to keep the white flames as far away from him as possible.


    When the light finally died down he found himself lying on the ground in a world much darker than before as all but the most stubborn of cinders had been snuffed out by the white flame that had for a moment devoured all the air on the street, leaving it hard for anything to breathe.


    Next to him his Hellish Echo fell to its knees, all of its fire having been consumed by the Morningstar it had unleashed.


    With what strength he had left he forced himself onto his own knees so that he could get a better look at the damage.


    The massive crater filled with embers stretching down half the street was something he¡¯d expected, as was the fact that Hellish Echo was now down an arm.


    ¡°Warned you, you didn¡¯t want to do that.¡± He sighed, looking at his right arm. Something he hadn¡¯t been expecting to get a page in his book even if he really should¡¯ve.


    (Toni¡¯s Prosthetic Arm


    Cost: 1 Science Fiction Page.


    Tech Equipment (Arm).


    A simple creation of a technological genius. The mere beginnings of what she could create, only held back due to fear of burning what remained of her friend.


    Restriction Read: This Page may only be equipped to a Cyberpunk unit with an (Arm) equipped or an ability equipping an (Arm).


    If this unit has any Heat stacks, increase the power of their Melee attacks and abilities by that amount.)


    With a wistful sigh he lowered his metal limb before climbing back to his feet and looking down at his Hellish Echo. The doppelganger no longer consumed by rage or fire, looked completely and utterly burned out a mere husk of what it had been a few moments prior.


    He lit one of his last two cigarettes before offering the last one to his doppelganger, knowing that if it felt anything like he did then he couldn¡¯t hurt it anymore than it already was. (My anger always did burn hot and fast I suppose¡­)


    To his surprise the doppelganger actually took the cigarette and put it to its lips before struggling to light the flame, something he always did with-


    He gripped the end of the Echo¡¯s cigarette and snapped the fingers of his right hand, lighting it.


    They both just sat there for a moment, watching ash drift through the air, the only remnant of the things that had gotten them into this fight in the first place.


    ¡°Do¡­ do we¡­ quit burning?¡± His younger self asked, sounding as lost as he had for years.


    Which is why he actually thought about it for a moment, perhaps for the first moment even.


    He didn¡¯t think about the events that burned him out until he became little more than a husk of himself, because he thought about those daily. But rather he thought about where he was, where he¡¯d been since the day he burned.


    The way he just went through the motions of it all, waking up, pretending for Toni¡¯s sake, working so that she could live as she wished in spite of him holding her back, drowning himself in stories so he wouldn¡¯t have to think about his own.


    He stared into the cherry glowing at the end of his cigarette for another moment, before telling his younger self,


    []- ¡°Yes.¡± (It has to¡­)


    []- ¡°No.¡± (It won¡¯t¡­)

 2024 Patreon Quest Demo 3 of 3 (Smile Like You Mean It)

    Smile Like You Mean It (A Demon Razing Hell Quest)


    -Synopsis: They say Hell is where bad people go, and that Home is where you make it, so what does it mean when you make your Home in Hell?


    Booker is a capital D Demon. That is one of the few things he remembers after waking in an alley with a static filled hole in his skull and the instinct that he needs to find something that''s missing.


    And so he sets out in a Hell very different than the one presented by religion trying to piece together who he is and what happened to him. To do so he''ll research forbidden knowledge, make demonic deals, and kill whoever gets in his way all with a smile on his face.


    --Tags: [Affably Evil Demon], [Functionally Dysfunctional Urban Hell], [Taking The Whole Show Over]


    Smile Like You Mean It


    Prologue


    --- ??? ---


    The world was on fire, and all he knew was agony as his skull was pierced.


    For an eternity the flames continued, eating away and devouring his mind, body, and soul as they left nothing behind. Inflicting a level of pain and agony unending so great that his mind shattered again and again as it tried to futilely piece itself together.


    But it was in this state of shattered sanity, that some tangential part of him had looped around through the pain, feeding the rest of his mind into the flames in an attempt to try and salvage some piece of himself, retaining only that which he would never give up even if it meant the death of everything that made him, him.


    Those things were far more important to him than any thought in his head, any bit of personality that described his ego, or even all of the power that he¡¯d accumulated over the years.


    Which is why the hellfire consumed all of it, everything he was, before they could touch that which was precious to him.


    Sadly though, this was not enough to stop the hellfire from eating away at these things that he clung to more in insane instinct than any conscious thought. Dimming recollections of what he was after, what he desired more than life itself, what he¡¯d make his own even if he had to raze all of heaven and hell to the ground to do so.


    But still he clung on to what he could, even as all that remained was the knowledge that there was something out there that he desired with all of his being, something that he could acquire if he found it once more.


    Something that he knew he would find so long as the desire to do so remained, that longing emptiness that would drive lesser men to the abyss, it would push him to find what he could not even remember any more and he would make it his.


    Which is why, as he hit the ground, his consciousness fading into the darkness, his power brought down to that of a lowly worm, his sanity a figment of the imagination, his body broken utterly, and his soul barely a spark of existence¡­


    He couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    So, which District are we starting in? (Please Choose 2)


    Hint: Each district represents both of the Sins that make them up in some way.


    []-Pride


    []-Greed


    []-Lust


    []-Envy


    []-Gluttony


    []-Wrath


    []-Sloth


    ---


    Vote Results:


    -EnvyxWrath= Kids, who wants to kill a nazi?


    ---


    Ira Invidia (I): A Warm Open


    --- ??? ---


    When an eternity of hellfire finally came to an end he found himself fading in and out of consciousness, the shambles of his mind trying to stitch itself back together.


    In these intermittent bouts of darkness and thought he saw a number of things, and thought about an even greater number of things as his body refused to work for him.


    The first of these things was the graffiti covered brick wall of whatever filthy gutter he found himself thrown in, his body clearly left to the rats by whatever power thought him dead.


    (But I¡¯m not dead¡­ I won¡¯t die¡­ until I can do so with a smile¡­)


    It was a powerful thought, and arguably the first real revelation about who he was as an individual.


    The second revelation was the fact that it was the only thing he knew about himself, the agony of whatever had left him in this alley having devoured every other thought and memory in his head, save for those that had formed in said alley. (Troubling¡­)


    It was this second revelation that allowed him to realize his third, namely that whatever he¡¯d forgotten was important because of¡­ reasons he wasn¡¯t actually all that sure of, beyond a bone deep longing of sorts.


    These were quite the big thoughts for what in some ways could be considered a newborn mind, which is likely why the darkness so gracefully dragged him back into slumber so that mind could cook just a little longer.


    ---


    When consciousness next returned he found himself looking up at a young woman bundled up in an oversized coat. Her gracious green eyes glittering out from beneath long brown hair in a mix of compassion and desperation as she regretfully attempted to rob what she thought to be a dead man.


    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry about this¡­¡± She told him as she dug through his pockets. ¡°I know you¡¯ve already had a bad day because of the Smiling Man but I¡­ I really need to get out of here¡­¡±


    (The Smiling Man?) He thought, a sense of familiarity coming from the title. One that filled him with an odd mix of satisfaction, admiration, boredom, hatred, and perhaps most curiously hunger¡­


    For the first time since arriving in this alley, who knows how long ago, he found his fingers twitching, wishing to reach out and¡­


    He wasn¡¯t quite sure but part of him wanted the girl to flee (protect your innocence¡­) While another part wanted her to stay (don¡¯t leave me alone!) And yet another wondered (what does your flesh taste like?)


    It was a disconcerting set of feelings to say the least.


    A sentiment the girl clearly shared if the way she stumbled back with wide eyes meant anything.


    ¡°You¡¯re waking up?¡± The girl clearly grimaced, despite how much of her face was covered. ¡°I-I¡¯m sorry.¡± Was her response before running off on her own.


    Whether that was rude, smart, kind, or cruel he wasn¡¯t sure. His understanding of those concepts¡­ still a little mixed at the moment. (Something is clearly wrong with my head right now¡­)


    A worrying thought, given how his mind was the only thing with any sort of power at the moment as he was just gaining the ability to move his fingers.


    Thankfully, the darkness decided to force upon him another comforting map before he could become too distressed by that point.


    ---


    Once more his mind struggled free of the comforting embrace of nothingness, the empty feeling inside of him beginning to gnaw at him in a way it hadn¡¯t while he was distracted by that girl from earlier. A gnawing that was quite painful in truth, as he found it wasn¡¯t quite limited to the emotional sense of the word. (Need to¡­ need to find a distraction¡­ Something to numb the emptiness¡­)


    Believing this to be quite the brilliant idea he began testing his limbs, finding them to be much closer to working order than they had been during his previous bout of consciousness, for this time he was actually able to use his long limbs to pull himself to a standing -if slightly uncoordinated- position by leaning against the wall he¡¯d been propped up against.


    Actually walking proved a¡­ more difficult task than he¡¯d initially assumed, if only because of how his limbs seemed to want him to act like some newborn lamb rather than a fully grown¡­ (human?)


    He paused at that, wondering why that thought seemed to be a question rather than a statement of sorts. (I mean, of course I¡¯m a human¡­ aren¡¯t I?)


    In front of him was a window, the glass dark and dusty due to both the light and disuse, but thankfully seemed to reflect the alley proper.


    Meaning when he stepped in front of it he was able to quite clearly see what he believed to be a handsome enough man with short -albeit long for a male- hair, his bangs covering his forehead even if they did nothing to hide his dark eyes. (See a human.)


    Sadly the makeshift mirror and the alleyway were both too dark to be too precise with the coloring of anything, but from what he could see of his own scarred skin by rolling his pale sleeves up to a position he was more comfortable with at the moment, he was of a tone that could pass for a tanned white man or a pale black man beneath the paler scarring that littered his arms.


    (I wonder which one it is?) He considered his limbs for another moment before taking another glance at his reflection.


    Only instead of a somewhat handsome human he found himself staring at a dark brown rabbit man with glowing red eyes and a pair of horns.


    A brief inspection behind him proved he was alone. And a second of his cloths proved that he was wearing the same half charred white button up he¡¯d seen on the rabbit man.


    Returning his gaze to this new reflection he found himself staring at a now white rabbit with red eyes, dark stitchwork visible all over his fur.


    He raised a hand to his cheek, feeling smooth flesh even as his rabbit reflection ran clawed fingers over the stitches on its cheek, the motion pulling the fur slightly, and revealing something hidden beneath the fur.


    Rather than being intimidated by this he found himself thinking (interesting) even as a blink of the eye returned the reflection to that of a human.


    ¡°So I¡¯m either not actually human or I¡¯m insane¡­¡± For some reason he felt completely comfortable with both of those possibilities.


    It was as he pulled back from this closer inspection that he realized he had a smile on his face, one that he hadn¡¯t even been aware of, one that now that he noticed it filled him with (love/hate/fear/hunger/joy/despair/acceptance).


    He blinked, not having expected such an extreme reaction from just noticing the smile.


    It was the extremity of this reaction that had him do something that he¡¯d come to realize was the height of foolishness¡­


    Namely¡­


    He tried to stop smiling.


    (The pain kept coming, but he¡¯d keep smiling because¡­)


    (Her smile made the pain go away¡­)


    (And it came back when she finally stopped¡­)


    (He smiled, his eyes wide as he realized that monster¡¯s smile was the same as his¡­)


    (Despite the whole building burning around him¡­ he couldn¡¯t help but smile¡­)


    (Two fingers pressed up against his cheeks, forcing them into the shape of a smile he didn¡¯t feel¡­)


    (And so he¡¯d continue to smile because if he didn¡¯t¡­ well¡­)


    The Smile Didn¡¯t Like That¡­


    Shattering glass and pain snapped him out of it as he found his fist half way through the glass, sending massive cracks through it and fragmenting his reflection into seven very different eyes, before turning into seven reflections of a man who was very clearly shaken in spite of the smile on his face.


    ¡°Right¡­ not doing that again¡­¡± He chuckled, leaning a little more towards the insanity diagnosis than just a few moments prior.


    Pulling his hand free of the glass, he found he¡¯d done quite the number to the poor thing.


    He also found his flesh pushing the glass free through no action of his own, the small cuts they left behind quickly stitching themselves shut. (And that¡¯s a point in the ¡®not a human¡¯ direction as well¡­)


    ¡°Come on, I think it was over here.¡± A voice called from one end of the alley.


    ¡°And I don¡¯t get why we¡¯re heading towards the broken glass.¡± A second added. ¡°People are breaking into shit all the time.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but around here our people. Meaning either it could be some of our boys who we can a cut for helping or it could be some other fucks thinking they can do something in our territory.¡± The first voice explained with something resembling logic.


    (Need to hide.)


    (Or charm them.)


    (Easier to just kill.)


    (Am getting hungry.)


    (Could play dead.)


    (Bargain maybe.)


    (Too many unknowns.)


    He stuttered a step, the cacophony of his own thoughts far more disorienting than he¡¯d been expecting as his mind went in more than half a dozen directions at once.


    Unfortunately, given how he was still getting used to ¡®walking¡¯ that single stuttered step was enough to send him crashing to the ground.


    ¡°Huh, who is this asshole?¡± One of the voices asked.


    ¡°Probably just some junkie drugged out of their mind.¡± The other dismissed him, (how dare he?!)


    He blinked, not sure why he was so offended by that when (better they underestimate than over, it¡¯ll make things easier.)


    ¡°Bet this is the one breaking glass and shit.¡± One of them said, as he felt a kick to his side. ¡°Fuck, man looks like a fucking Smiler¡­¡±


    Several of his thoughts aligned at once, with the single plan to (kill them both.)


    Not even really thinking about it he reached out with one of his hands and pulled on the leg of the man who kicked him with an amount of force that he hadn¡¯t expected from himself as scrawny as his reflection had been.


    Still it provided him with an opportunity he wasn¡¯t quite willing to throw away as it brought his attacker down to his level, where with surprising ease he grabbed the man¡¯s throat before ripping it out with a clawed hand.


    He felt a burst of something inside of him as he watched the man rapidly bleed out, almost as if the life was leaving the man and instead entering him.


    With far more ease than before he managed to climb to his feet, where his (victim¡¯s) compatriot punched him across the jaw.


    A few moments prior this would¡¯ve been enough to knock him back to the ground.


    Now it just made him growl in rage/hunger/excitement.


    Faster than either of them realized he grabbed the man by both his shoulder and his head before burying his teeth, his fangs, into the man¡¯s throat and ripping it out.


    Once more he felt a burst of something filling him with energy he hadn¡¯t had prior, even if the sensation was less noticeable than the first time. (Because you were weaker/emptier/poorer/hungrier.)


    He shook his head as another wave of thoughts crashed down on him, and he tossed the man to the side as he tried to steady himself against the brick wall rather than once more falling to the gutter like the two men he¡¯d just killed.


    For whatever reason be it that they struck him first, that they were clearly ne''er do wells, or simply because he wasn¡¯t human he found he wasn¡¯t all that guilty or concerned about the killing bit. In fact some part of him wanted more of it.


    His eyes drifted to another nearby alley window, where he once more saw his reflection.


    Only this time he saw a smiling man with a bloody maw full of fangs and a hole filled with flickering static beneath his now parted bangs. The entire visage quite clearly answering the question of ¡®is he a monster or is he just insane?¡¯ (Clearly it¡¯s both.)


    And he couldn¡¯t help but smile at that.


    We¡¯re a not-human in an alley with two corpses and no memories. What now? (Hint: Question marks are our undiscovered skills. They¡¯re all Lv. 1 right now.)


    []-Study these men, something is clearly odd about them. Maybe they have something worth learning/taking? (P????/G????)


    []-Study the alley, there has to be some clue about what happened, be it how we got here or what happened to us. (E???/P????)


    []-Stalk/Observe the locals, see what we can learn about this place on our own. We need to test our mental faculties if we are to rely upon them. (P????/E???/G???????)


    []-Speak to the locals, ask some questions. Attention can be good or it can be bad, it can also mean less work for the common question of where we are. (L???/?????)


    []-Seek out that girl from before. She seemed the kind/easily manipulated sort and she might be able to help us. (L???/E???/G???????)


    ---


    A/N: Fun Fact, I wrote Smile Like You Mean It¡¯s chapter first, and by the time I finished the other two the chapter poll had shifted so I had to re-write it. (The original draft is a free patron bonus chapter for anyone who is curious.)


    ---


    Tutorial Skill Checks


    -As a base each skill check will consist of me rolling a number of dice based on our current character Rank (Based on Total Class Levels: Lv > 0 = 1, Lv. > 5 = 2, Lv. > 15 = 3, Lv. > 30 = 4, Lv. > 50 = 5, Lv. > 75 = 6, Lv. > 105 = 7.)


    -As a Demon our power revolves around Advantages and Disadvantages, with the former granting a Dice and the latter taking one away.


    -Additionally, should the total +/- of Advantages and Disadvantages tilt so that one side has a 3 Dice advantage or no Dice at all, then that will be an auto-success/fail.


    -Lastly, our success and failure will be tiered based on how far over or under our roll is, with ties being an outright reroll of both in clashes.


    -After all of this we gain 1XP to all of our used skills in the rolls.


    Example:


    -Study the locals.


    --They¡¯re not on alert so no roll on their end, but on ours we roll 2D6+1=10 for knowledge , 2D6+1=9 for more esoteric observations, and then 2D6+10 for our more predatory observations.


    ---


    -Find the girl.


    --For her escaping: She has a Survivor level of 5 so that¡¯s 2D6+5 = 12.


    --For us: We¡¯re Lv. 7 since we have 7 Lv. 1 classes, but we also have advantage due to tracking her down immediately, meaning we¡¯re actually rolling 3D6+1 = 12, which would have us reroll for 2D6+5 = 10 vs 3D6+1 = 16. (Note: Added the tie rule after this.)


    --The second ???? was a backup roll in case we failed to track her down with ???????? that wouldn¡¯t have given us advantage on this next check.


    --Due to us finding her on the first try the girl has a double Disadvantage on the Social roll due to both being Guilty for robbing us and the fact we caught her so quickly meaning we auto-auto win the challenge of whether or not she tries to run again since she now has no dice to roll with. (Her Lv. 5 Survivor does give her a perk for negotiations on the next roll depending on your choice though.)


    ---


    A/N: Also, quick warning, pretty sure this story is going to be the most experimental of the three if it continues until the end.


    ---


    Ira Invidia (II):


    --- ??? ---


    (G???????: We need to leave.)


    His eyes darted around the alley, searching for the source of the voice he¡¯d heard.


    (E???: We¡¯re not even going to pretend to be sane are we?) A second voice drawled, almost mockingly.


    (S????: That would be too much work for too little gain.) An exhausted third pointed out.


    Once more he checked all around the alley, but no matter where he looked he couldn¡¯t find the source of these voices. At least not until he noticed his fractured reflection staring at him and telling him exactly where the speakers had disappeared as his eyes changed color flickered between several colors.


    ¡°Voices in the head¡­¡± He huffed in amusement. ¡°What fun!¡±


    (P????: Yes, yes, we¡¯re insane. We¡¯ve already discovered this, but there¡¯s more new things to learn! I mean, look! There¡¯s something odd about these two¡­ Why aren¡¯t you investigating!) A fourth (more sophisticated) voice cried.


    Part of him -(the one you should absolutely ignore)- wondered if it was a good idea to heed the words of these voices, but given how they were him in a sense he decided to listen to them in so long as the ideas they voiced were intelligent or beneficial to him at the moment. (Smart man!)


    (G???????: No, we need to leave before someone finds us with these bodies.) The first voice growled.


    (W????: He has a point, if we don¡¯t leave people will seek vengeance.) A fifth agreed. (We aren¡¯t in a condition where we can fend off everyone who seeks us.)


    (G???????: We need to learn more about our prey before we hunt them down.)


    (P????: Oddly reasonable for you two, but I¡¯m always in favor of bettering ourselves. We can learn on the move.)


    ¡°So that¡¯s three in favor, out of¡­ how many?¡± He asked.


    (L???: There¡¯s seven us in total!) A chipper voice answered. (Oh, and you don¡¯t have to listen to us if you don¡¯t want to!)


    (G????: He¡¯s right, for once, you should just ignore everyone else and search this lots¡¯ pockets. We can¡¯t afford to be wasteful in a world like this!) The final voice threw out.


    (E???: We also can¡¯t afford to be caught until our work is done.)


    ¡°That one has a very good point.¡± He admitted before looking down both ends of the alley. ¡°Though I¡¯m not sure which way we should go to avoid attention.¡±


    (L???: Ooh, ooh, go the way the girl went!)


    (G???????: He¡¯s got a point¡­ The men you killed came from the other, if someone sees you walking out covered in blood they might put two and two together.)


    (L???: Oh, no, I just wanted to make a new friend!)


    ¡°Regardless, it¡¯s a good enough direction.¡± He decided before heading in the same direction as the girl, only to pause as he came to a street with more people than he¡¯d been expecting. (Or perhaps not¡­)


    (G???????: No look at them. More than one person is covered in blood or openly carrying a weapon¡­ They¡¯re all ready for violence, but look at them¡­ They watch their fellows with fear hidden behind anger¡­ They¡¯re merely prey pretending to be prey¡­ How delectable¡­)


    He found himself salivating as he boldly stepped onto the street, his eyes meeting a man who startled at his sudden appearance before putting on a bold facade as if the man wasn¡¯t scared.


    (G???????: Go ahead¡­ Take a bite¡­ Show everyone here what a real predator looks like!)


    He began to open his mouth, feeling his teeth itch as they turned into fangs ready to rip into the meat and-


    (P????: Now isn¡¯t the time for bestial violence!)


    His mouth snapped shut as he shook his head clear and started in the direction opposite the man. ¡°What was that?¡±


    (E???: That is what happens when you lean too hard into one of us. You start to behave the way we would, were we the ones in control.)


    ¡°Interesting¡­¡± He wasn¡¯t sure if that was something to be concerned about or not. (After all, they¡¯re already me and they¡¯re already in my thoughts, so who could say who is really in control.)


    (P????: An interesting philosophical, but right now we should focus on the actual project at hand¡­ Look around and we¡¯ll see what we can learn shall we?)


    He nodded to himself, before taking a proper look around as he wandered through the streets. All around him were a number of tall buildings made of concrete underlining that he was in a rather dense city of some kind. The architecture all painted various hues of red and black while also being oddly pointy and damaged to the point where the buildings should¡¯ve been abandoned but for some reason were not.


    It was while looking at this that he noticed the blood red sky up above, alongside what appeared to be some kind of runic script. (Is that real, or merely another hallucination?)


    (E???: It¡¯s real. It¡¯s also a spell circuit¡­ Too big to read from here -can¡¯t even take a guess at what it does- but it¡¯s probably not why the sky is red.)


    (P????: Perhaps it¡¯s a reaction similar to how water particles normally turn the sky blue¡­ Though that wouldn¡¯t answer what particulate is causing the red¡­)


    (G???????: Blood¡­ Can still taste it in the air despite leaving the alley¡­ There¡¯s been so much bloodshed it¡¯s stained the very air¡­ Not as good as true blood, but still a mouth watering flavor, wouldn¡¯t you agree?)


    ¡°I do¡­¡± He admitted, unable to help but lick his lips.


    As his gaze came back down to street level, he found his eyes locking onto an odd insignia of an X of sorts with an additional line capping the end of each that was hanging off of banners here and there, or painted onto the buildings if they lacked said banners. A symbol that he found quite common on those who walked near him, be it stitched into their clothing or tattooed onto their flesh.


    (P????: Clearly every person or business here affiliates with whatever organization this represents, but what does the symbol actually mean?)


    The answer was staticy feeling in his mind as if he remembered it, less by definition and more with his emotions towards it, emotions that were most clearly defined as (annoyance/disgust/rage.)


    He frowned. ¡°Well that wasn¡¯t very clear at all¡­¡±


    Regardless of clarity of definition, he felt like even associating with whatever this symbol represented was sapping at his own intellect, as if whatever it represented was such an extreme form of stupidity that it was somehow contagious.


    (W????: The symbol is for idiots and pathetic wretches who¡¯d rather blame the innocent than take responsibility.) An angry voice growled, filling his mind with red.


    (P????: Now, now, we need a clear head to think. I¡¯m noticing another oddity on the fellows surrounding us.)


    He blinked before taking another subtle look at the people around him, for a moment thinking them no different than an ordinary person before spotting the thing the voice was talking about.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Namely that while the people around him for the most part looked human, almost everyone also had several traits that were distinctly not. The most common of which were claws and fangs, glowing eyes, and in a few instances even horns and tails. (At the very least I shouldn¡¯t stand out too much.)


    (P????: I¡¯d think not. They¡¯re all like us, both human and not¡­ Though with a less clear divide between the two¡­) The other voice mumbled, piecing together his thoughts for him. (Nice of him to do that.) (You¡¯re welcome, still this means that they can''t turn off whatever phenomenon causes our transformation¡­)


    (E???: We can only manage that because everything is so shattered in here, and even then only just barely.)


    (G???????: Should just cut loose, restraint is pointless. Revel in the Madness of it all.)


    ¡°That does sound fun¡­¡± He admitted, thinking about loosing his claws and fangs into those near him.


    (E???: It may be fun, but it won¡¯t see our work get done.)


    ¡°A valid argument.¡± He sighed, feeling smaller than a moment before as he felt a sort of longing in his chest for something he couldn¡¯t quite name.


    (L???: Oh, oh, I¡¯ve got an idea!) The happiest of his voices shouted.


    ¡°Oh, do tell!¡± He grinned.


    (L???: Well, we¡¯ve got no direction at the moment, right? So why don¡¯t we try talking to the people around us, maybe they¡¯ll give us some?)


    (P????: No. Caring about strangers¡¯ opinions is how you end up tied to a worthless organization full of idiots.)


    (S???: Though getting someone else to do some of the work for us would be nice.)


    ¡°The question is who?¡± He wondered, taking another look at those around him and finding all of them wanting be it due to either their affiliation with that (annoying/stupid/vile/disgusting) pinwheel or because they were just bland and blended into the scenery.


    (L???: Well what about that girl that we woke up to? She seemed nice in a ¡®desperate street rat trying to survive¡¯ kind of way.)


    ¡°Well, at the very least she was more interesting than anyone here.¡± He noted with a wry grin, before taking another look around. ¡°But how are we supposed to find her when she¡¯s run away and we¡¯ve moved in a different direction?¡±


    (G???????: Hmm, it¡¯s more fun when they run¡­ The fear makes their meat so much sweeter.) That one purred as his stomach growled.


    (Are we a cannibal?) He idly wondered, while considering his delight in the taste of blood.


    (P????: That would depend on your definition, but¡­ probably.)


    (W????: You¡¯re not eating her, she¡¯s innocent.)


    (L???: Yeah! She¡¯s going to be a friend not food!)


    (G????: Innocent? She stole from us! That¡¯s worthy of a death sentence!)


    The red voice scoffed. (W???: She stole nothing of value.)


    (G????: Nothing of- Everything is of value as long as it''s ours!)


    ¡°Regardless! None of this explains how we¡¯re going to find her.¡± He pointed out as he came to a stop, uncaring for the various eyes on the mad man talking to himself in the middle of the street.


    (G???????: Hmm, her scent ¡®s in the air, still fresh enough that the blood and filth of humanity has yet to consume it. The innocence makes it stand out against the rabble.)


    He inhaled, but (I can¡¯t smell anything¡­)


    (W????: I smell the blood of the innocent and the damned alike, but not the girl.)


    (G???????: Grrah, need to feel the beast¡­ let it guide you on the hunt¡­) The feral one growled as his skin began to feel a little too tight on his bones.


    (E???: Dangerous route this one, be careful not to over indulge it lest it consume you.)


    (W????: True but the Beast has purpose, value we shouldn¡¯t neglect.)


    ¡°Alright, the ¡®beast¡¯-¡± (It uses a capital B.) ¡°Ah, apologies.¡± He coughed into his hand. ¡°Ahem, the Beast is a valuable tool, but that doesn¡¯t tell me how to use it.¡±


    (E???: The Beast is a state of mind. Leave it to the unconscious mind, you¡¯ll just direct it as the conscious mind.)


    (P????: So long as you remain more man than Beast at least.)


    Before he could parse that ominous thought, he found himself hunching over as his stomach began to growl, the tightness of his skin growing even worse as his mouth began to water. All around him the world grew brighter, the darkness fading so that he could see through the darkest of shadows as well as the shadows cast by every person he saw.


    (G???????: Not the time. Time to hunt!)


    His heart began to pound in his chest and he began to move, his eyes taking note of recent scuffs picking apart the ones that were too big and too heavy, before seeing the ones that were smaller than the rest. Small enough to be the (prey/friend/girl) he was after.


    Moving in pursuit his calm walk slowly shifted into a spiraling sprint as he sought out his (prey) not caring in the slightest about the people around him or the fact that several flinched away from his bloodstained form and snarling maw, (all that matters is the hunt!)


    A trail of something floated through the air, unseen by all but the mad man following it, through back alleys and streets as he barely took notice of the people and things that surrounded him. Details that in a clearer state of mind might¡¯ve meant something or triggered some sort of response from the voices in his head but currently meant nothing in the face of his growing (hunger.)


    Coming into an alley walled off by a chain link fence, he easily leapt over said fence in spite of it being as tall as he was, before finding that the cloud of (scent/emotion/madness) that he¡¯d been following expanded into such a large thing that it consumed his vision.


    (She¡¯s nearby¡­) He growled both internally and ex at that thought, not sure whether it was him or the voices making the sound.


    His eyes darted around the brickwork alley, taking note of the various filth and debris that littered the ground, the torn up posters depicting odd imagery, and the overflowing dumpsters before falling on a large wooden board lying against the brickwork, too close to really hide anything of import and yet¡­


    (G???????: The rabbit¡¯s den is buried, need to dig it out.)


    The voices seemed to disagree.


    The only places he could see the girl hiding would be inside the dumpster, which while viable in the short term was not somewhere he could see her staying in long enough to cover this entire alley in¡­ (whatever I was tracking.)


    ¡°Which leaves you¡­¡± He smiled, before grabbing the edge of the board and tossing it aside to find a small alcove in the alley brickwork.


    An alcove just big enough for a sleeping bag, a backpack, and a terrified green eyed girl who could be no older than ten and four bundled up in a heavy scarf and jacket.


    (G????: There¡¯s the thief!)


    (G???????: Food!)


    He growled, ready to rip into her throat and- (Enough/Enough/Enough!)


    The voice¡¯s echoing presence was enough to force him to flinch.


    (W????: She¡¯s a child!)


    (L???: Friend not food!Friend not food!!!)


    (E???: What would your mother think of this behavior?)


    He found himself flinching once more as the voices that weren¡¯t all for killing the girl reprimanded him.


    (P????: As I said, will you be a savage beast or a proper gentleman?)


    (Right¡­) He inhaled, before exhaling. (Need to be sure of whatever choice I make¡­)


    You found the girl. Now what will you do with her? (Top 2)


    Note: Some choices will resonate with certain classes while repelling others. In such cases the names after the + will grow stronger, while the ones after the - will grow weaker.


    []-Kill Her. (+G????/G??????? -L???/W????/E???)


    []-Leave her alone. (P????/E???/W??? -G????)


    []-Recruit Her. (L???/S????/E???)


    Any Questions -for her- before we do that? (Max 3)


    []-Write Questions In Comments. (+Depends on the questions asked.)


    Submitted Questions:


    -Recruit Her (Lust/Sloth/Envy)


    -Do you have a name? (Lust)


    -May I have my things back? (Greed)


    -Do you know anything about restoring lost memories? (Pride)


    ---


    Quick Tutorial Add On: Forgot to mention it last chapter, but no skill can go below 0XP, meaning if you¡¯re at Lv. 5 (0/12) then losing an XP in that skill won¡¯t cost you anything.


    ---


    Ira Invidia (III): Considering Questions And Offers


    --- ??? ---


    (First and foremost I suppose¡­)


    ¡°Hello, child. It was so terribly rude of you to run off earlier.¡± He greeted, forgoing his own introduction due to not actually having a name to give at the moment. ¡°Now then, I believe you and I could have quite the intriguing conversation¡­ So long as you know not to run this time?¡±


    The young woman shivered, not answering his mostly rhetorical question as she tried to make herself as small as possible.


    ¡°Glad to see you agree.¡± He grinned, enjoying the way she squirmed as he looked down on her.


    (En??: You¡¯re scaring her.)


    (Lu??: Don¡¯t be a meanie. Give her a smile and assure her you aren¡¯t going to hurt her.)


    (Gr???: Yet.)


    (Glu?????: Heh, fear makes the meat taste so sweet¡­)


    (Sl???: Whatever we¡¯re doing, scare her too much and she¡¯ll stab you. Street rats are like that.)


    (Lu??: If we want to calm her down, we need to start with something simple and non threatening.)


    He considered that for a moment, the girl saying absolutely nothing as he considered her, the only sound coming from her being her frightened breathing. ¡°Come now child, aren¡¯t you going to introduce yourself?¡±


    The girl audibly swallowed, visibly considering whether or not she should lie to him as her face creased in worry before letting out a quiet, ¡°Lydia¡­¡±


    ¡°Lydia.¡± He repeated, tasting the name and wondering if the flavor would ignite any memory of his own.


    (Pr???: Still can¡¯t recall our name, but I can tell you that Lydia means-) ¡°Noble one, or beautiful one¡­ I wonder which your parents meant for you?¡± He idly asked, dismissing the more boring meaning of ¡®from Lydia¡¯ while not actually expecting an answer to his question.


    Not that that stopped him from noticing how the girl flinched at the word ¡®parents¡¯. (Interesting¡­)


    ¡°Now then¡­ Lydia, while I may not have been or currently be in the rightest of minds, I am aware of the fact that you took something from me.¡± He growled, not quite meaning to as he felt the desire to-


    (Gr???: Kill her and just steal it back from her corpse already!)


    (Glu????: Eat her while we¡¯re at it¡­ She may be more bone than meat, but we haven¡¯t had a proper meal in who knows how long.)


    (Lu??: Hey, let¡¯s at least give her a chance to give them back, please?)


    (Well since you said please.) He ignored his more violent thoughts as he leaned down at the waist, taking not of just how much taller than her he was before sticking his hand out and kindly requesting, ¡°May I please have my things back?¡±


    He liked to think that the ¡®before I take them back¡¯ was best left unsaid, and the fact that she cautiously put something in his hand meant that it was rightly heard.


    ¡°This, this is all I got¡­ and the, the Sin from stealing it.¡± Lydia promised, her voice soft and fearful as she quickly withdrew her hand, almost as if she were afraid he¡¯d bite the hand off.


    (Glu?????: We still could.)


    Standing back up, he inspected the object she¡¯d returned to him.


    Fitting perfectly in his long fingered hand was a silver pocket watch with two rabbits chasing each other on the cover, one with antlers and one without. A number of chains circled and connected the two in an intricate knot that would bind them together forever even as they were both slowly choked to death by the bond.


    His thumb traced the chains as he felt a set of emotions he couldn¡¯t quite name.


    (Glu?????: Longing¡­)


    (Wr???: Guilt¡­)


    (En??: Regret¡­)


    (Lu??: Love¡­)


    (Sl???: Peace¡­)


    (Pr???: Acceptance¡­)


    (Gr???: Satisfaction.)


    More on reflex than anything else, bloodstained fingers gripped the lid of the watch. His index and middle finger pressing down before pulling up and snapping the watch open to reveal the engraving hidden on the other side of its cover


    Booker H. Freeman.


    You are both the second worst and the


    second greatest thing to ever happen to me.


    I will always hate and admire you,


    Emilia Lafayette.


    The watch snapped shut once more, the storm of emotions inside of him far wilder than anything he¡¯d felt in the short time since his awakening. With emotions so complicated that he found himself desperate for anything else to think about.


    A shifting brought his attention back to the young woman in front of him, looking like she wasn¡¯t sure if she should flee while he was distracted or stay still in case it angered him once more.


    ¡°Thank you, my dear.¡± He told the girl with no small amount of honesty as he slipped the watch into one of his pockets for now, deciding to deal with those feelings when he was alone and knew more about his situation.


    (Lu??: Oh, oh, introduce yourself!)


    ¡°Ah, yes! It occurs to me that I¡¯ve yet to introduce myself, Booker H. Freeman at your service.¡± He informed her as he bowed with both a smile and a theatrical flourish of his hand.


    While it wasn¡¯t overly apparent, he could tell by the slight relaxing of the girl¡¯s shoulders that this introduction had done something for her nerves even if he wasn¡¯t quite sure what.


    ¡°Now that we¡¯ve put this unfortunate business behind us, perhaps you can help me with another issue plaguing my person?¡± He asked, taking a step back so that he wasn¡¯t quite looming over the girl any more.


    Lydia watched him cautiously, her eyes darting around a bit as she climbed to her feet. ¡°What, what exactly do you need help with?¡±


    ¡°Well as embarrassing as it is to admit, I¡¯m currently missing a few¡­ memories involving the where, why, and hows of how I found myself in that alley earlier.¡± He explained, keeping the fact that he¡¯d forgotten far more than that to himself.


    The girl stared at his face for a moment, more specifically his mouth before asking him if, ¡°Can you, uh, stop smiling?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather not.¡± He confessed, some instinct telling him that to do so was a terrible mistake.


    ¡°Then you, uh, you might be a victim of the Smiling Man?¡± Lydia offered, looking uncomfortable.


    He tilted his head. ¡°You mentioned him before, and those ruffians you fled from called me a Smiler I believe?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the Smiling Man is a, a Demon that runs around these parts feeding on people and leaving them as little more than smiling husks.¡± Lydia explained with a shiver. ¡°Though I haven¡¯t heard of any of his victims being able to talk once he¡¯s done with them.¡±


    (Pr???: The question is whether that¡¯s because you¡¯re the exception or the cause?  The fact that you don¡¯t doubt her when she calls him a Demon could be a point in either direction.)


    (En??: The Beast makes it pretty clear which direction we should be leaning.)


    (Glu?????: Smiles are nice, but they don¡¯t matter nearly as much as the hunt, the kill, or the feast.)


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Taking all of that into account, he decided it was best to point out that, ¡°If none of the Smiling Man¡¯s other victims can talk, then there¡¯s no telling if he¡¯s responsible for my memory loss or merely someone who exploited said memory loss.¡±


    ¡°On the uh, bright side, if you¡¯re walking around you should get your memories back once you¡¯re done healing.¡± Lydia offered with a wry grin of her own.


    (Lu??: Aw, she¡¯s trying to give us hope. How cute!)


    (Sl???: People like us don¡¯t deserve hope.)


    (En??: Everyone deserves hope. The good to get them through the day, and the wicked to make their suffering all the greater.)


    (Sl???: Show her your bullet hole. Street rats are made of stern stuff. Might be able to point us towards a back alley doc to get it fixed.)


    ¡°A valid point.¡± He nodded, before parting his hair over the hole in his skull. ¡°Though I¡¯m not sure how long this¡¯ll take to heal.¡±


    Lydia grimaced, but didn¡¯t flinch away as would normally be expected of a child her age. (Told you.) ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s, uh, that looks like you¡¯re still under something¡­ surprised you¡¯re walking around with that¡­ Especially after the Smiling Man got to you.¡±


    ¡°So the two aren¡¯t connected then?¡± He asked, letting his hair fall since it clearly made the thus far helpful child uncomfortable.


    ¡°Not as far as I know, but¡­ I don¡¯t normally go looking for Smilers.¡± Lydia admitted, looking away as she guiltily brought up the point about robbing his incapacitated corpse.


    (Gr???: Still say we should gut her for that.)


    (Priorities.) He told himself, before asking the girl if, ¡°Given my little¡­ problem here, I don¡¯t suppose you know where I can find someone nearby to mend this injury of mine?¡±


    ¡°Uh, no¡­¡± Lydia frowned, causing his eye to twitch once more. ¡°Healers aren¡¯t common around here¡­ And I haven¡¯t really left Ira Invidia since my¡­ dad brought me here.¡±


    ¡°Now, now. No need to frown just because you can¡¯t help me child. You¡¯ve been plenty of help as you are.¡± He assured Lydia, getting a weak smile out of the girl. (Better¡­ shame we¡¯ll have to end it.) ¡°In fact, as helpful as you¡¯ve been I can¡¯t help but be curious as to why you felt the need to steal from me during my incapacitated state?¡±


    That got a flinch out of the girl as she refused to meet his eye, instead rubbing at her wrists as she looked at the ground. ¡°Sorry¡­ It¡¯s just¡­ I, I don¡¯t want to be here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, am I such terrible company?¡± He grinned, knowing that wasn¡¯t what she meant but not having the context behind what she actually meant.


    Unexpectedly, the girl glared at him for a moment, ¡°That¡¯s not-!¡± before flinching once more. ¡°Sorry¡­ I meant, Ira Invidia¡­ I¡¯m not, I¡¯m only here because my dad dragged me here¡­ I don¡¯t believe in that stuff.¡± Lydia tried to explain as she gestured towards a poster with that windmill insignia or the one beside it bearing  before more quietly confessing that, ¡°I¡¯m not a nazi¡­¡±


    The girl flinched once more at that confession as if she was expecting him to physically lash out at her, only to relax near completely when he didn¡¯t. (Interesting¡­)


    (Pr???: Based on context, Nazi is likely the name of those represented by that idiotic windmill.)


    (Wr???: They¡¯ve also hurt her. She¡¯s more scared of them than of a strange man covered in blood cornering her in an alley.)


    (Gl?????: Insulting. We¡¯re clearly more intimidating than those maggot filled wretches.)


    ¡°Quite right.¡± He smiled, more to himself than anything though by Lydia¡¯s grateful smile she seemed to think he was encouraging her.


    (Sl???: Let her think what she wants as long as it keeps her loyal.)


    ¡°Any, uh, anyway you need a lot of Sin to buy your way out of Ira Invidia.¡± Lydia continued to elaborate. ¡°It¡¯s cheaper because I¡¯m still young but if I can¡¯t get the Sin in another year or two¡­ It might as well be impossible after that.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ So I¡¯m guessing my exit from this place will be ¡®impossible¡¯ as you put it.¡± He guessed with a tilt of his head, fairly certain that just because something was impossible to the girl didn¡¯t mean it was impossible for him.


    (Pr???: It really doesn¡¯t.)


    ¡°Maybe?¡± Lydia grimaced once more. (That¡¯s such an annoying habit¡­) ¡°Um, you¡¯re uh, you¡¯re not from Ira Invidia, right? I mean I don¡¯t think you are but¡­¡±


    ¡°No I¡¯m not.¡± He answered, fairly certain that if he was he¡¯d have killed more people and burned down any building clinging to those annoying symbols.


    (Wr???: We¡¯d have burned them all alive.)


    (En??: Needless to say, you¡¯re not here because you live here.)


    (Glu?????: Though this wouldn¡¯t make the worst hunting ground with all the prey wandering about.)


    Lydia smiled, (looking much better) as she told him, ¡°Then you should be able to buy your way over the wall¡­ I think¡­¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯ll need a decent amount of¡­ Sin,¡± He was assuming that was the local currency based on what she¡¯d said, ¡°to get anything done.¡±


    ¡°Uh, we?¡± Lydia asked, looking like she was once more ready to flee. An extreme shift from her previous countenance to say the least. (I wonder why?)


    (Sl???: She¡¯s scared we¡¯re going to take the Sin she¡¯s saved up already. Losing what little they have is the greatest fear of all street rats.)


    (Gr???: An option for quick funds, but probably not the most profitable in the long term. As much information as she¡¯s given it might be better to make her work off that debt of hers.)


    (Pr???: Yes, a source of information would be invaluable given the current lack of memories.)


    ¡°Look, you uh, you seem like a nice enough guy but there is no us¡­ I, I felt bad for stealing your watch, that¡¯s the only reason I¡¯m helping you now.¡± Lydia lied, not bringing up her blatant fear of him after how easily he¡¯d tracked her down. ¡°And as is, I¡¯m thinking we¡¯re just about even on that.¡±


    (Gr???: Regardless, she¡¯s not going to go anywhere with you unless you can offer her something she wants. Only idiots work for free after all.)


    (The question is what to offer her?)


    (Lu??: Ooh, ooh! We can offer to be her best friend forever!)


    (Wr???: She¡¯s hurt and scared. The honorable thing would be to aid her.)


    (En??: Or we can teach her how to help herself. Give her the power to fight her own battles without us.)


    (Glu?????: Hmm, rats are predators to some creatures. Might be entertaining to teach her she doesn¡¯t have to be a scavenger.)


    (Sl???: Both of those options are too much work. All we need to do is take her with us when we leave and she¡¯ll be ours for no extra work.)


    (Pr???: Yes, she¡¯ll merely be a tool to our goals. No need to become too invested in her.)


    (Lu??: Or, we can become super invested and work our magic a bit.)


    (Gr???: Doubt she¡¯d say no if we do that, but the question is if it¡¯s worth the price.)


    (What do you mean?)


    (En??: You¡¯ve got more tricks than just the Beast, if you want you can draw on them but you¡¯ll need to be careful lest they turn you into a slave to your own power.)


    (Lu??: Oh, don¡¯t scare him like that. This is just us giving our offer a little more razzle dazzle to get her to say yes.)


    (En??: Addiction is always a slippery slope with consequences we can¡¯t see.)


    (Glu????: Better to indulge while you can, rather than waste your life on regrets.)


    (Pr???: Philosophies aside, you need to make a decision. You might think faster than most but time is still passing for the girl.)


    His mind snapped into focus as he looked at Lydia as the girl began to creep away from him.


    (Gr???: Don¡¯t let her run.)


    ¡°Stop.¡± He said, causing the girl to freeze in place as he offered her a hand and a smile full of teeth. ¡°Tell me child, how would you like to make a deal?¡±


    Sinful Boost Tutorial


    -In hell Sin is both currency and power, with many uses for both. There a number of ways to gather Sin and even more ways to spend it.


    -One such way is the Sinful Boost, where we use Sin to guarantee that we¡¯ll hit the maximum success, at the cost of consuming however much Sin we need to reach that level after our base Roll. As an added bonus however we¡¯ll also gain double XP for any choice we use Sinful Boost on. (Tempting no?)


    -Now, currently our Sin is based on those two kills earlier. Those two were E Rank lesser Enemies, meaning they were each worth (2D6) so at ((2D6=10) + (2D6=8)) = 18 Sin.


    Our actual goal for this check will depend on what we offer her, one has a goal of 5/10, one 8/16, and one 10/20


    []-Offer Friendship. (Lu??/Wr???)


    []-Offer Power. (En??/Glu?????)


    []-Offer Freedom. (Sl???/Pr???)


    []-Sinful Boost.


    []-No Boost.


    ---


    A/N: Remember that experimental note? Here¡¯s the really experimental part. (Also that three way tie is going to make it really clear that we¡¯re insane by the way. (Good job to whoever switched their vote.))


    ---


    Ira Invidia (IV): Start Of A Metamorphosis


    --- Booker H. Freeman ---


    Lydia stared up at him, her caution and fear plan for all the world to see, ¡°Do¡­ do I have a choice?¡±


    His eyes widened in shock that she would think him so ungentlemanly, before putting on an amicable smile to reassure/disarm her. ¡°Why of course you do! You¡¯re free to leave whenever you want, all I ask is¡­ that you hear my offer before you do.¡±


    (Gre??: We¡¯re not really going to let her go with her debt unpaid are we?)


    (Of course we would, it¡¯d be rude to hold a young maiden captive!)


    (Slo??: Besides we lack the resources to hold her captive.)


    (That too.)


    Lydia gave him another once over, her eyes darting to each side as she searched for a way to escape before she eventually swallowed and asked, ¡°What offer?¡±


    He straightened out his clothes to try and make himself a little more presentable, a means of stalling for a moment as he in turn asked himself, (How do I do this¡­ razzle dazzle, as it were?)


    (En??: We¡¯ll take care of the actual ritual here, all you¡¯ll have to do is direct it and keep it going. If you stop too early we¡¯ll face both a backlash and be unable to start it up again without an even greater cost.)


    (Gre??: Which¡¯ll make this investment a little too expensive, for multiple reasons.)


    (And again, how do I start this¡­ ritual?) He wondered, not quite sure what he was working with yet but willing to trust the voices for the moment.


    (Lu??: With style of course! Snap your fingers twice and then just follow the flow!)


    (En??: There¡¯s a lot more to it than that but¡­ we can talk about that later.)


    ¡°Well?¡± Lydia frowned with an impatience born more from anxiety than anything else.


    Giving his audience a smile, he raised one hand into the air as if it were a centuries old habit and told her, ¡°How about a little¡­ demonstration of what I can offer you?¡± before snapping twice and feeling an immediate shift in the ether around them.


    Something that the girl clearly felt too given the way she was looking around. ¡°W-what are you doing? What¡¯s that sound?¡±


    He tilted his head and raised an ear before noticing that there was in fact a jazz sort of tune slowly building. (I¡¯m curious about that too¡­)


    (Pri??: Our power is vibrating the air molecules around us, thus generating a sound indistinguishable from music.)


    (Lu??: The real fun is how the song changes based on what we¡¯re doing!)


    (En??: Speaking of, you really should start directing the power before it slips us.)


    (How?)


    (Lu??: By singing of course!)


    He blinked, drawing a blank at that even as the magical music began to build in power.


    (En??: You¡¯ve got five seconds to start singing before we explode.)


    It was at this moment that he also realized that the young Lydia had pulled a knife on him, her hands shaking with clear fear at what she could feel coming from the air around her.


    ¡°Now, now, there''s no need for that, my dear. I assure you that with this offer there is nothing to fear.¡± He promised, feeling the power around him shift as he wagged a finger through the air before pushing aside the blade. ¡°I¡¯m aware that your situation here is rather quite severe, but don¡¯t worry because I''m here to make all your problems disappear!¡±


    ¡°And how do I know you¡¯re sincere?¡± Lydia asked in song before blinking and gaining a panicked look. ¡°Wait, why am I singing?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be irate for it won¡¯t be too long, just while we¡¯re clinging to the power of the song¡± He assured her as the music dimmed. ¡°But let¡¯s reinstate the actual point, because I¡¯d hate to disappoint.¡±


    ¡°Now then,¡± he coughed into his hand as he led her from the alley as the song once more began its rally. ¡°From where I stand, you seem to be in dire need of a friend. An ally upon whom you can depend to help you ascend from this pit full of those who do nothing but offend.¡±


    In front of them a group of men covered in those windmills walked down the street with weapons in their hands so as to force all who crossed them to meet their demands.


    Lydia pulled away from him. ¡°Don¡¯t condescend, I don¡¯t need you to protect me from them¡­ This offer of yours you can just rescind!¡±


    (Slo??: Look at the way she trembles, she¡¯s clearly lying.)


    (Lu??: Right, everyone needs a friend, we just need to keep trying!)


    (En??: No, she resembles someone pretending they don¡¯t spend their nights crying in fear of the creatures lurking near.)


    He grit his teeth at this new insight. ¡°Quite right, I didn¡¯t mean to slight. I can see that all you need from me is someone to help set you free from the world that brings you so much fright.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need anything from you!¡± Lydia growled, beginning to march to their right.


    ¡°Perhaps that¡¯s true.¡± He confessed, as he moved to pursue her down the street. ¡°But allow me to offer you another view in case we never meet again?¡±


    Lydia simply ignored him, his power dimming as she continued to walk.


    (Gre??: You¡¯re losing her, we need something that won¡¯t make her balk. Hold on¡­)


    ¡°Hey you!¡± A voice squawked, drawing their attention to one of the men from before. ¡°I know you!¡±


    (Ugh, what a chore¡­) He growled through his smile. ¡°That¡¯s clearly untrue, just looking at you I can tell that down to your core you¡¯re something to abhor.¡±


    ¡°Not you!¡± The man snarled, before pointing at Lydia. ¡°Her, I know her¡­¡±


    The girl squeaked, trying to make herself small as the men¡¯s friends turned their attention towards the pair.


    (Gre??: Perhaps this is how we¡¯ll ensnare¡­)


    ¡°From her reaction I can infer that you¡¯re but a source of despair. So kindly leave.¡± He told the man, hoping to repair his standing with Lydia.


    The man gave him a disgusted look. ¡°The fuck are you talking like that for? Doesn¡¯t matter, you can go ahead and scatter she¡¯s what I¡¯m after.¡±


    (Wra??: Which is why we should send him to the hereafter.)


    Lydia flinched away as the man unswayed reached for her, though not as if to attack.


    Regardless and without a thought, his hand shot to the man¡¯s wrist before pulling it back.


    ¡°You know Lydia, I just realized what it is you really need to be freed.¡± He grinned through a smile full of fangs as the man began to grimace and the child stared on as if in a trance, one borne of fear, awe, and most importantly envie.


    Now with something he could levy, the music began to advance once more as he felt his power re enhance with this brand new chance to seal this deal.


    ¡°Right now, my dear, you¡¯re so filled with fear.¡± He sighed as he stomped the man¡¯s knee and forced him to kneel. ¡°But don¡¯t worry, with me here we¡¯ll make this fear disappear like this easy kill here.¡±


    He grabbed the man¡¯s throat and tore it out in a single swipe, uncaring of the many witnesses that may gripe.


    ¡°What did you just do?¡± Lydia gasped.


    ¡°Something that you could do too.¡± He laughed, before turning towards the crowd rushing towards them, taking longer than they should¡¯ve thanks to the curse of the current verse.


    ¡°Right now my dear you¡¯re filled with fear, but don¡¯t you worry with me here, will make all that fear just disappear.¡± He promised with a smile as he felt the power flow. ¡°You see, I¡¯m a dangerous foe, while you are a defenseless little doe, but don¡¯t you worry and don¡¯t you woe because I can tell this is the start of something great! Oh, I can¡¯t wait!¡±


    ¡°Wait? For what?¡± Lydia frowned, looking between him and the men in the distance. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±


    ¡°The start of your metamorphosis my dear!¡± He grinned, taking the girl¡¯s hand in his and giving her a spin. ¡°The way you are is such a sin, that in order for you to win we really must begin!¡±


    ¡°Begin what?!¡±


    ¡°Your metamorphosis!¡± He answered once more as he let the first man come to fore. ¡°You see you can be dangerous, but you need to change for this!¡±


    The man swung on him but he easily danced around the strike, and kicked the man¡¯s knee out like he had with the first.


    Moving on instinct he swiped Lydia¡¯s knife from where she hid it before putting it in her hands. ¡°Now, you¡¯ve a knife. Tell me, can you use it? Or will you recuse it for the rest of your life?¡±


    ¡°I-I¡¯m not going to kill him!¡± The girl told him, backing away until her back hit a store front.


    He shook his head and gave her an affronted smile. ¡°Not with that attitude you won¡¯t!¡± Which is why he killed the man for her and began pushing more power into his magic.


    Dropping into a crouch so that he was eye level with Lydia he asked, ¡°Tell me child, aren¡¯t you tired of being afraid? Don¡¯t you want that terror to end? To do this you must learn to defend!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re insane¡­¡± The girl (finally) realized.


    ¡°True, but not the point.¡± He reminded her, before standing back up. ¡°Allow me to appoint myself as your mentor, your tutor on how to deal with your tormentors! Like these two!¡±


    Lydia looked down at the two men on the ground before turning to the crowd of men who had stopped trying to get closer, but were talking amongst themselves while glaring their way. Eventually the girl¡¯s eyes drifted to one of the larger windmills on a building near them, the same one that marked most of the buildings around them, before finally meeting his eyes with a determined look.


    ¡°What do I have to do?¡±


    He couldn¡¯t help but smile, as the music suggested he started up the chorus.


    ¡°Right now my dear you¡¯re filled with fear, but don¡¯t you worry with me here, will make all that fear just disappear. You see, I¡¯m a dangerous foe, while you are a defenseless little doe, but don¡¯t you worry and don¡¯t you woe because I can tell this is the start of something great! Oh I can¡¯t wait!¡± He laughed, while searching the bodies of the two he¡¯d killed. ¡°This is the start of your metamorphosis!¡±


    He gave Lydia a meaningful look, as he briefly paused and let his magic begin to bubble beneath the surface.


    Lydia licked her lips before swallowing and admitting that, ¡°The way I am is such a sin, that in order to win we really must begin!¡± allowing his magic to wrap around her and sink its hooks in.


    ¡°Yes! This is the start of your metamorphosis! You can be dangerous but you need to change for this!¡± He felt his magic twitch before finding an old flintlock on one of the bodies. ¡°Ooh, a gun, what fun! Here you take it!¡±


    ¡°W-what am I supposed to do with it?¡± Lydia asked as she fumbled the gun between her hands.


    He rolled his eyes, before swiping the gun back and pointing it at the various windmill wearing men. ¡°You take it and you go bang, bang with it!¡±


    One of the men dropped to the ground, as the rest jumped at the sudden sound, before returning their attention to him and the girl that was now holding the gun again. ¡°Your turn! I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get the hang of it!¡±


    Lydia held the gun up and shook her head. ¡°I-I can¡¯t!¡±


    He gave her a kind smile and a pat on her shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s fine, you can learn. After all, this is just the start of your metamorphosis!¡±


    ¡°Are you sure I can be dangerous?¡± Lydia frowned up at him, not noticing how he was letting the thugs rush towards them.


    The first man reached him with a bat full of nails raised, and he caught the bat before ripping it away and slamming the nails into the hooligan¡¯s face.


    ¡°Right now my dear you¡¯re filled with fear, but don¡¯t you worry with me here, will make all that fear just disappear.¡±


    Another man tried to get Lydia before having the hooligan¡¯s back broken by the bat.


    ¡°You see, I¡¯m a dangerous foe, while you are a defenseless little doe, but don¡¯t you worry and don¡¯t you woe because I can tell this is the start of something great!¡±


    The third stumbled back in his tracks after seeing how quickly his friends were dispatched by the smiling mad man and swiftly deciding to try running instead.


    ¡°Oh I can¡¯t wait!¡± He laughed, before swinging the bat and removing the man¡¯s head. ¡°This is just the start of your metamorphosis!¡±


    He gave Lydia a confident smile, only to find the poor girl staring down at the ground with a frown. ¡°The way I am is such a sin, even if we begin, could I possibly win¡­ I-I don¡¯t think I can be dangerous¡­¡±


    He gave Lydia a confident smile before noticing what was behind her. ¡°Hmm, I have an idea for this problem¡¯s panacea!¡±


    With a quick step and a swing he broke the window open, an act that surprisingly required a decent amount of magic, before stepping over the broken glass and grabbing a bottle of alcohol and some cloth.


    ¡°This is merely the start of your metamorphosis my dear, there¡¯s no need to fear. I think you just need to change your mindset for this.¡± He explained as he lit the cloth. ¡°Perhaps some fire will inspire you to be a little more dangerous? If you can¡¯t kill yet, perhaps you can burn this?¡± He pointed to one of the windmill banners. ¡°I doubt it¡¯s something you¡¯ll regret.¡±


    Lydia stared at the offered incendiary before taking it from him with shaky hands, and glaring up at the windmill. ¡°I hate everything that swastika stands for, I¡­ I want to burn it and so much more¡­¡±


    ¡°Then do it.¡± He encouraged the girl, before reaching down and pulling up a bag of marshmallows. ¡°We can roast smores as the fire roars!¡±


    ¡°Right now I¡¯m filled with fear, but I won¡¯t worry with you here, we¡¯ll make all that fear just disappear.¡± The scared girl promised herself. ¡°I see, you¡¯re a dangerous foe, while I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m a defenseless little doe, but¡­ I¡¯m not going to worry or woe because¡­ Because I can tell this is the start of something great!¡± Lydia smiled a grin full of fangs before laughing as she threw the incendiary. ¡°Oh, I can¡¯t wait!¡±


    He felt his magic twist propelling the bottle further than it should¡¯ve gone before smashing into the banner and setting it on fire.


    ¡°This is the start of my metamorphosis!¡± Lydia grinned at him as she took his hand and he gave her a spin. ¡°The way I was was such a sin, and now that we¡¯ve begun my battle will be won!¡±


    ¡°This is the start of your metamorphosis!¡± He agreed as they continued to twirl to the music his magic produced.


    ¡°I can be dangerous, I just need to change for this. I won¡¯t be filled with fear, with you here, we¡¯ll make all that fear disappear. I won¡¯t be a defenseless little doe, I¡¯ll become their most dangerous foe, I¡¯ll become the source of their worries and woes!¡± Lydia sang as she spun. ¡°This is the start of something great!¡±


    ¡°Oh, I can¡¯t wait to see how dangerous you become.¡± He told her as they both stared up at the fire while surrounded by the bodies of the people he killed, he couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°After all, this is but the start of your metamorphosis, my dear!¡±


    ---


    A/N: First, this one was technically something we should¡¯ve gotten last chapter, but I kind of want to limit it to one Tutorial per chapter.


    Equipment Tutorial


    -Occasionally, we¡¯ll come across items of power that the different members of our Cadre can equip changing some of their stats.


    -As a base each member of our Cadre has three gear Slots for: 1 Offensive, 1 Defensive, and 1 Accessory. These numbers can be raised through different Perks available to different characters through their Classes.


    -Lastly, we can trade out all of our equipped items in between events or a single slot type upon acquiring a new piece of equipment.


    New Item:


    Fey Feeling Stopwatch


    -Bonded Accessory, Booker Only.


    +/-1 To Checks involving Emilia Lafayette: Our feelings are mixed.


    -1 Wra??: We burned her world down.


    +1 En??: And watched her rise from the ashes.


    []-Equip the Fey Feeling Stopwatch. (Net: +1 En??, -1 Wr???)


    []-Don¡¯t equip it. (Net: No change.)


    What do we do now? (Pick 2)


    []- Get to looting. (Gre??, +Loot)


    []- Keep on rioting. (Wra??/Glut????)


    []- Look for somewhere to lay low. (En??/Slo??)


    Are there any questions you have for Lydia?


    []-Write-In.

 Tru Grit鈥檚 Fight Pit, First Tourney (Pt. 1)

    Tru Grit¡¯s Fight Pit, First Tourney (Pt. 1)


    --- Maya Williams ---


    ¡°So, uh, how exactly is this going to work?¡± She asked Anavi who she¡¯d somehow managed to track down in spite of the numerous people wandering around Tru Grit¡¯s fight pit. ¡°I mean, I doubt all of these people are here to fight.¡±


    ¡°No most of them are here to spectate.¡± Anavi confirmed for her, before messing with a tablet in her hands. ¡°We have¡­ sixteen fighters lined up in a bracket system based on your results from the Bloody Ballroom. We¡¯ll be going by a double defeat system, so barring the final fight you can lose one fight and stay in. Meaning at max a person might have seven fights if they lose one, and five if they don¡¯t lose any.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that give the guy who never lost has an edge against the one who lost once?¡± She frowned, figuring that first guy would be better rested than the other.


    Anavi merely gave her a shrug. ¡°If you lose, you¡¯ve got to fight harder to prove you¡¯re tougher than the one who didn¡¯t. That way no one can complain if the final fight is between two people who fought before.¡±


    (To summarize, if you can¡¯t defeat someone while well rested they deserve first place even if you both only lost once.) Her inner logic explained.


    ¡°I¡­ guess that makes sense.¡± She admitted. (Because of course it does.)


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, this is your first tournament. All of this makes sense once you¡¯ve seen a few of these, the Mad Dogs have been doing this for generations now and know what they¡¯re doing.¡± The older woman assured her with a kind smile.


    She blinked before repeating, ¡°For generations?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only been a year or two since Za¡¯um and I fell through that Rift, but from what I¡¯ve heard our boss Tru Grit inherited his crown from his mentor ten years ago and the pits themselves have been around since your¡­ Rift Riots?¡± Anavi shook her head. ¡°Either way, they¡¯ve been around for almost twenty years now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ weird, I hadn¡¯t really heard about the Mad Dogs or the fight pits until I found this place.¡± She frowned in thought, while not bringing up how in spite of how many Deviants seemed involved in this place she hadn¡¯t found anything about them when researching her city¡¯s Deviant Gangs. (Which is weird¡­)


    ¡°From what I¡¯ve been told the Pits technically follow the laws of your land, but are bending several of them. It makes sense that they¡¯re trying to keep their more legally gray activities underground, at least when compared to the likes of the Guild¡¯s attention seeking.¡± Anavi explained, just a hint of distaste to her words with that last bit.


    (I guess she¡¯s got an issue with the Gamer¡¯s Guild? Which given what we¡¯ve seen of Decker¡­)


    (Means that she should be smart enough to realize that magic is inferior and repent for the sake of her hotness.)


    (Ignore her.)


    She intended to.


    (Hey!)


    ¡°So, uh, given the other contestants, how far do you think I can make it?¡± She wondered, not really knowing how strong anyone else might be outside of her own experience with the Bloody Ballroom.


    Anavi made a face, as she tilted her head from side to side. ¡°I technically can¡¯t tell you much there, since the first round is supposed to be more or less blind and while I like you it would be dishonorable to both you and your opponents if I helped you with the tournament itself.¡±


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°Oh, right.¡± She winced, having not quite connected the fact that she was a contestant and Anavi was a host for said contest. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like that though.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m aware.¡± Anavi assured her with another smile. ¡°Which is why I can tell you that I know as long as you¡¯re smart you can win your first round, and even if you lose once you can probably make it to the fourth.¡±


    ¡°And my odds of winning the whole thing?¡± She wondered, before adding. ¡°And remember I¡¯m like scary levels of smart.¡±


    The older woman let out an amused huff. ¡°I¡¯m aware, which is why I¡¯ll remind you that experience is as important as intelligence if not more so in a fight. And given how you¡¯re one of four contestants entering for the first time¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m one of the least experienced people in the tournament¡­¡± Maya finished with a sigh.


    ¡°Yes, but at the very least your side of the bracket includes all four newcomers, so everyone should be on your level until the third round. Additionally, the tournament is stacked in a way that outside the first round you should be able to watch your opponent¡¯s fights.¡± Anavi consoled her with a sly smirk. ¡°I¡¯m sure for someone as smart as you you can learn a great deal from such an advantage going forward.¡±


    She nodded. ¡°Yeah, I think I can.¡± (Especially with my Database Scanning¡­) Even if she didn¡¯t have the time to study the scans in depth here, (I can still figure out a lot with them.)


    ¡°Good.¡± Anavi nodded back, as she clapped Maya¡¯s shoulder and nudged her to move. ¡°Now while I can¡¯t outright help you, I know you Crafter Deviants are best when you have time to tinker with your equipment. Since we¡¯ve still got an hour to go, how about I show you to your waiting room so that you can ready yourself for your blind fight?¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah, that sounds like a good idea.¡± She admitted, not sure what part of her gear she could mess with but pretty sure that it wouldn¡¯t hurt to do some last minute tweaks to something.


    Following after the older woman she soon found herself stepping through a door in one of the warehouse¡¯s added walls, and in a back hall, and after a bit more wandering Anavi led her through and into a small gray room. There she found a pair of water coolers next to an open door leading into a small restroom behind a large couch in front of a small table covered in snacks with a large TV on the wall showing a split screen with four different rings surrounded by chairs.


    ¡°Alright, remember that this room -room fourteen- is yours for the duration of the tournament and that stepping into the other¡¯s rooms without permission is against the rules.¡± Anavi told her before picking up a remote and showing it off. ¡°The Tee¡¯Vee is set to show all four rings, you can focus on one by changing the channel. Unfortunately, you¡¯re part of the first set so there¡¯s none going on right now but in an hour or so it¡¯ll chime with which door your fight is through.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­ Uh, aside from other people¡¯s rooms I¡¯m not like¡­ locked in here, right? I mean, I can leave the room?¡± She checked, because she was fairly certain her Scan would not work through a TV screen.


    (It will not.) Her inner reason confirmed.


    (Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll add that to the upgrades list.)


    ¡°You¡¯re free to leave.¡± Anavi assured her as the older woman crossed her arms. ¡°That said, if you don¡¯t step out the arena doors within a minute of the start time it¡¯ll be considered a forfeit. So if you have to leave for something, make sure you¡¯re back. Unless a fight really drags on you¡¯re probably only going to have thirty or so minutes for a break.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll¡­ keep that in mind.¡± (I¡¯ll also have to race home after all of this¡­)


    ¡°Alright, well there¡¯s some standard tools under the couch if you don¡¯t have any on you, but now that I¡¯ve got you in here I do need to get back to work. I can¡¯t just leave all of this to Za¡¯um after all.¡± Anavi joked before quietly mumbling. ¡°He¡¯d burn this whole place to the ground.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I can figure things out from here.¡± She smiled as she pulled out the tool kit, (not as good as ours but enough to work with.) ¡°Thanks for everything.¡±


    ¡°Happy to help.¡± Anavi smiled back before leaving with a wave.


    Once she was alone she took a deep breath before setting her Heavy Weight on the table. ¡°Now let¡¯s see if we can¡¯t fit one last upgrade in before we¡¯ve got to fight.¡±


    Scene Consequences


    -Heavy Weight Upgraded to Mk. 1.1


    --Heavy Weight now deals 2*(Strength+1) Blunt Damage.

 Tru Grit鈥檚 Fight Pit: First Tourney (Pt. 2)- A Fiery First Fight

    Tru Grit¡¯s Fight Pit: First Tourney (Pt. 2)- A Fiery First Fight


    --- Maya Williams ---


    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s game time.¡± She told herself as she stood in front of the doors leading to her ring as she tried to hype herself up for the coming fight. ¡°I¡¯ve got this. If I can take Decker on in a fight then I can handle whatever amateur hour I¡¯m up against here.¡±


    (Yeah, just ignore the fact that you¡¯re here because it¡¯s amateur hour.) Her inner passion agreed.


    (Or the fact that Decker was toying with us rather than going all out.) Her inner logic (unhelpfully) added.


    (Nah. We¡¯d have won even if he¡¯d gone all out.) Her inner Madness argued.


    She clapped her face, intent on ignoring the two naysayers.


    A faint buzzing drew her attention to the sign above her as it switched from red to green, and a speaker turned on as a faintly familiar voice said. ¡°In this corner we have a masked M.A.D. newcomer, ready to put her steel to the test!¡±


    (Guess that¡¯s my cue.) She realized before pushing open her doors and walking down a small path leading to the ring, idly taking note of the relatively small crowd around it. (Huh, was expecting there to be more people¡­)


    (It¡¯s probably because this is the first fight between newcomers. The actual crowd is probably around the ones who¡¯ve been here before.) Her inner reason figured.


    (Meaning we¡¯ve just got to show them why they need to be watching us instead!)


    Once she stepped into the ring -while blatantly ignoring the eyes on her- the announcer spoke up once more from the nearby speakers, as a light flashed on next to another set of doors. ¡°And against our masked newcomer we have another fiery first-time fighter!¡±


    From behind the opposing doors a teenager in a hoodie stepped out while wearing a domino mask, before igniting a pair of small flames in her hands in an attempt to work the crowd. Something that earned her opponent a faint applause bigger than her own had been. (Which¡­ stings a bit¡­)


    (Yeah! Why the fuck are these pendejos cheering for a filthy magic user?! They should be cheering for us!) Her inner Madness yelled inside of her head as she glared at her opponent.


    (Well, Arcane are considered the most popular Deviancy on average.) Her inner logic explained, (before being promptly ignored for being factually wrong.)


    (I¡¯ll just have to show these guys why science¡¯s flame is better than their magic.) She decided, already pulling up her Heat Burst() on her headset and priming it to fire.


    (Yes! Fight fire with fire! Science gives us a type advantage!)


    (I don¡¯t think that¡¯s how that works¡­)


    ¡°Both fighters ready?¡± The announcer asked, waiting just a moment for either of them to say something before yelling. ¡°Then fight!¡±


    All around the edge of their ring a light flashed, briefly revealing a wall of light boxing them in and shielding the crowd should any of their attacks go wide.


    The moment she was given the all clear she set her Heat Burst() off on the magic user¡¯s position, causing a small explosion to go off at and knock them off their feet.


    Or that¡¯s what would¡¯ve happened if Maya¡¯s opponent hadn¡¯t leapt back at the first flicker of a foreign flame before shoving their hands forward and converting her Heat Burst() into a fireball and launching it her way.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Rather than trying to dodge herself she fired off a burst of sound at the fireball, causing it to erupt into an explosion larger than her own attack would¡¯ve been before quickly firing off a shot of electricity.


    Her opponent dropped to the ground, causing her shot to go wide, as a feminine voice cried, ¡°I thought you were supposed to be an M.A.D.?!¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± She assured her opponent as she raised her Hand Cannon and fired another bolt of lightning.


    The magic user¡¯s eyes visibly went wide before they dropped their hands to the ground and then raised them up as they created a wall of fire to intercept her electricity.


    (Wait, how did that work?) She frowned as she began to slowly inch around the wall. (A wall of fire shouldn¡¯t be able to disrupt a bolt of lightning.)


    (Lightning and fire are two different forms of plasma, so they do have some influence over each other such as the pyrocumulonimbus effect through rapid heat release into the atmosphere.) Her inner mad scientist suggested.


    (Alternatively, it¡¯s possible that magical fire has a sort of metaphysical mass that disrupts the standard energy pathways to maintain its form.) Her inner reason offered as a counter hypothesis. (This would explain how so many Arcane can create elemental constructs that should collapse under normal circumstances.)


    She was so caught up in this little mental debate that she didn¡¯t notice her opponent getting up on the opposite side of the fire wall before converting it into a wave of flame that she could do little to dodge. (Ah, shit!)


    While the fire wasn¡¯t quite as dangerous as a normal flame, it was enough that she could still feel its heat biting through the thinner spots in her armor and clothing.


    (Eh, walk it off. We¡¯ve taken worse explosions from our own tech!)


    She shook her head clear, and glared at her opponent as she patted out the worst of the cinders on the clothes she wore with her armor. (Need to take her down¡­)


    Her magic wielding opponent created another pair of fireballs in hand before throwing them her way, and forcing her to begin running to keep from getting hit.


    (Okay, she¡­ she seems to be sticking to a range so¡­) She stomped her foot and shifted the angle of her sprint from simply dodging her opponent to actually rushing them.


    The magic user stumbled back a step but launched two more fireballs at her. The first one she was able to duck around but the second struck her shoulder in something a little harder than a glancing blow, causing her to break her sprint to keep her balance.


    Not that that did much to keep her from letting loose a wild swing with her Heavy Weight, one that while unleashed more or less blind was still enough to catch her opponent in the chest and launch them back.


    She slowly stalked forward in case her opponent tried something else, and in their defense they did try unleashing a small flash of flame at her, but it was also notably weaker than their previous few attacks.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± The magic user cursed as her spell fizzled out and she collapsed onto her back. ¡°Think, think you cracked a rib¡­¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but grimace at that before looking around. ¡°Are, are you going to be okay?¡±


    ¡°Y-yeah, just¡­ Why¡­ Why haven¡¯t they called this yet?¡± Her opponent frowned.


    ¡°Just a reminder to all of our freshie fighters, the rings have spells measuring how much damage each of you can and have taken.¡± The announcer answered. ¡°If the fight is still going then it believes you can keep fighting. If you disagree you can forfeit by tapping the ground three times.¡±


    Not needing further prompting her opponent tapped the ground, and the barrier around the ring flashed twice before shattering.


    ¡°And the first fight goes to our masked M.A.D.!¡± The announcer declared, earning her a light applause from the people that had watched her fight.


    (Well¡­ this feels anti-climactic¡­) She had to admit, the victory feeling nowhere near as big as it had against Decker, the Bloodhounds, or even the Gamer Guild¡¯s dungeon monsters.


    (This is just the first fight, the easiest one. I¡¯m sure each round will feel like a bigger win as the challenge increases.) Her inner logic assured her.


    (Yeah, a win in bronze elo ain¡¯t nothing compared to a platinum win.) Her inner passion reminded her.


    While she processed this she idly noted a man wearing a doctor¡¯s coat enter the arena and start examining her opponent, before raising a light filled hand to her opponent¡¯s chest.


    A light that had her wondering (Do you think using my healing herbs would be against the rules?)


    (I¡¯d consider it a gray area within the rules. Especially if they offer a free heal to someone when they lose a fight.) Her inner reason guessed. (Either way though, I wouldn¡¯t use it in front of our opponents in case someone wants to argue it.)


    (Or, alternatively, we could go spy on our enemies and plot their demise.) Her inner Madness suggested.


    (We¡¯ve a bit of time to figure something out, just so long as we¡¯re back by our next fight.)

 Tru Grit鈥檚 Fight Pits: First Tourney (Pt. 3) Watching And Learning

    Tru Grit¡¯s Fight Pits: First Tourney (Pt. 3) Watching And Learning


    --- Maya Williams ---


    Figuring that, (It¡¯s probably best to at least have an idea of what the competition is about.) She went ahead and made her way back to her break room before grabbing one of the snacks off the table and watching the split screen showing off four sets of fights getting ready to begin.


    ¡°Alright, now which of these is the one we¡¯re going to be fighting next round?¡± She asked the screen.


    (The bottom right one.) Her insanity answered, drawing her eyes to the feed of someone wearing a black hoodie and a surgeon¡¯s mask with their hands in their pocket.


    ¡°Huh, does that guy even want to be here?¡± She frowned, unable to see anything that made them stand out. At least not when compared to the other screens where she could see the other -mostly teenage- competitors at least looking like they were itching for a fight as they brought a variety of weapons from blades and baseball bats to guns and (is that a potted plant?)


    (I¡­ believe so¡­) Her inner reason confirmed. (I do not know what kind though¡­)


    (Yeah, you failed that biology check.)


    She pinched the bridge of her nose before turning her attention towards the last amateur fighter in this tournament, a teen covered in a mix and mash of metal and leather to form a set of patchwork armor. (Really tacky armor.)


    ¡°Please tell me we don¡¯t look like that¡­¡± She grimaced as she looked down at her ¡®gear¡¯ while feeling more than a little self-conscious about the metal plate she was wearing over her clothes and beneath her hoodie.


    (No, no. We got the Artistic Aesthetic perk. Our stuff may not be great but it is nowhere near that bad.) Her inner madness assured her. (At the very least our outfit goes together.)


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. Navi or Decker would¡¯ve said something by now if we were dressed weirdly.¡± She nodded, as she forced herself to focus on the four fights going on simultaneously.


    Keeping track of that much information at once would, for most people, be difficult on some level. Some of the details getting lost as they had to focus on each fight bit by bit. (But we¡¯re bat shit crazy and this is nothing.)


    While she herself focused on her fellow amateurs fighting it out, the armor kid simply rushed his opponent who merely raised a hand into the air.


    Her inner logic dissected another fight between, (The gun user isn¡¯t firing bullets, their shots are some kind of energy. The girl they¡¯re fighting can create shields of some kind.)


    And her inner insanity watched as (Ooh, plant girl is using it to bind the other guy. He¡¯s trying to do something but, nope. He¡¯s out. Switching to the other fight where -oof- that guy just got knocked the fuck out. You see how far he went flying from that punch? I mean where did that thing come from?)


    What had her personal attention however, was the fact that in the fight for her next opponent, the guy in the armor looked like he¡¯d run into an invisible wall of some kind. The person in the hoodie suddenly drove their other hand forward, and the armored kid was sent flying back by an invisible force.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Though that wasn¡¯t enough to keep him down as her fellow M.A.D. sat up and pointed his fist at his opponent before firing some kind of projectile, a trail of smoke following it all the way to where it seemed to be freeze in the air,


    Using the remote she changed the channel so that her fight was the only one on the screen, giving her a much better look at the projectile struggling to keep moving as the person in the hoodie locked it in place with a hand in the air.


    For a split second the projectile seemed to break free of whatever invisible force kept it in place, before suddenly spinning around and flying straight for its creator where it unleashed a big enough explosion to leave her worrying about the guy.


    The match was called and a pair of medics ran into the ring while inspecting the downed Deviant, before one of them gave a thumbs up towards the camera assuring everyone that the guy was still alive.


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s not something we want to get hit by.¡± She decided as she started thinking about everything she¡¯d just seen.


    (No we do not.) Her inner reason agreed.


    (You sure? If he can take it I¡¯m sure we can tank it with our superior armor.) Her less reasonable self argued.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try not to find out.¡± She told herself as her eyes fell on the one in the hoodie and narrowed. ¡°I don¡¯t think they''re an Arcane.¡±


    It was something of a gut feeling, but something about the force they¡¯d used to catch that explosive and send it back seemed different from what she¡¯d seen other Arcane use.


    (Meaning that they¡¯re very likely a Psionic.) Her inner logic figured. (Not a Deviancy we¡¯ve really encountered before.)


    Psychics despite being fairly well known were also infamously secretive with the majority of the Psychic Masks she knew of from her games being Sanctuary Agents, or one of the most infamous crime lords in recent history.


    (I very much doubt that this person is in any way related to Frank Sionis.) Her inner reason assured her.


    ¡°Right, yeah. I know that¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°Since they¡¯re our next opponent, what all do we know about Psychics again?¡±


    (They¡¯re knock off magic users, but actually acceptable since they work with scientists all the time to figure out how their powers work.) Her inner Madness summarized.


    (Not entirely accurate.) Her inner logic pointed out. (They can have elemental powers similar to Arcane, but they lack summons of any kind. They also have cognitive abilities allowing them to see the past and future, and telepathic abilities allowing them to read people.)


    ¡°Do¡­ we need to worry about mind control?¡± She frowned, unable to help but think of why Frank Sionis had had a kill warrant that everyone knew about.


    (In such a public place? No.) Her inner reason knew.


    (Besides, I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯re a little too -heh- crazy for total control.) Her inner insanity laughed.


    ¡°We weren¡¯t too crazy for those Bloodhounds to Fear spam us.¡± She reminded her other self.


    (And we snapped out of that. There¡¯s nothing to worry about!)


    While that didn¡¯t do much for her nerves about facing a new Deviancy, it did keep her from second guessing herself until the light for the next fight turned on. Getting her to get up and once more make her way through the fight pit¡¯s twisting corridors until she finally reached the doors leading to the ring proper.


    Hopping in place she took a calming breath as she impatiently waited for the red light to turn, her ears faintly picking up the announcer introducing her opponent first before the light flashed green halfway through.


    ¡°And now our psionic stranger is up against their second M.A.D. One with far sterner steele than the first, and cybernetic spellwork to top it off!¡±


    (It is science not spellwork you infidel!) Her inner Madness raged as she stepped through the doors, her eyes passively scanning for the announcer¡¯s booth. (Find him and kill him Maya! The infidel must suffer!!!)


    (Or we could direct this all consuming rage into something more productive¡­) Her inner reason suggested as her attention was drawn to the teenager in a black hoodie and surgeon¡¯s mask standing across from her while wearing a pair of sunglasses.


    Her eyes narrowed at her opponent. (Well hello, acceptable target.)

 Tru Grit鈥檚 Fight Pits: First Tourney (Pt. 4)- A Psionic Second

    Tru Grit¡¯s Fight Pits: First Tourney (Pt. 4)- A Psionic Second


    --- Maya Williams ---


    Shoving the (idiot infidel) announcer out of mind, she readied her Hand Cannon by cycling one of them to Light, fully intent on taking advantage of the fact that her opponent¡¯s psionic shield seemed to only affect the corporeal.


    Opposite her her opponent made their own pre-fight preparations if more subtly so, because while the psychic clearly kept their hands in their pockets her inner Madness assured her that, (They¡¯re doing something with their power.)


    (How do you know?)


    (There¡¯s a subtle shift in our magnetoreception.) The more insane of her voices explained.


    (Is that a real thing or¡­?)


    (Difficult to say.) Her inner logic admitted. (Humans have an ability to pick up electromagnetic fields, but it¡¯s also not one of our primary senses, so¡­)


    Her inner madness cut in to elaborate, (It¡¯s not really in a noticeable range for your conscious mind, but I can see it in your subconscious sensory stuff. Can¡¯t tell you what it¡¯s doing, but I can tell you something is happening.)


    Given how her opponent¡¯s psionics were invisible, (That¡¯ll have to do.)


    The moment the fight was signaled to begin she fired off a Burst() of light in front of her while closing her eyes and running forward, intent on making her opponent flinch long enough that they wouldn¡¯t be able to- watch her run face first into an invisible wall.


    She stumbled back a step as she shook her head clear. (Fuck!)


    (Hey, I warned you they were doing something.) Her inner passion reminded her.


    (And we did see them pull a similar stunt on their previous opponent.) Her inner reason pointed out, at the same time the announcer underlined that detail about the same trick working on two different M.A.D.s.


    (Offer to kill him is still on the table~)


    (Considering it.)


    Deciding to try something else, she cycled one of her Hand Cannons to sound before unleashing a burst of both sound and light hoping one of them would break through her opponent¡¯s shield.


    The psychic covered their eyes to try and shield them with one hand even as they held the other up in what she figured was an attempt to maintain the shield that visibly rippled under the assault of light and sound.


    A reaction that had her repeating her attack again and again in an attempt to wear her opponent out, even as her own attacks left her blind and deaf to the world around her. So many back to back blasts hurting her eyes and ears more than the stand alone blasts would.


    (Note to self, build light and sound shielding into the mask¡­)


    (Noted!) Her inner Madness yelled despite being inside of her head.


    Risking a peek while she was forced to reload her hand cannons, she watched the psychic drop to their knees before sweeping their hand across the ground.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    (Why¡¯d they-) Her thought was cut off as kinetic force hit her legs sending her crashing to the ground as she was knocked off of her feet. ¡°Shit!¡®


    As Maya began to pick herself off the ground she was able to see her opponent pulling their arms back in what she assumed was a build up for an even bigger blast. (Nope!)


    Giving up on getting up and her opponent was going all in on offense, she instead dropped back to the ground and quickly fired both of her freshly loaded Hand Cannons at the psychic.


    The shield around the psychic visibly flared once more, only this time instead of holding firm, several cracks appeared in the brief moment her light rippled across it. An effect that was underlined as the other teen winced and stumbled back a step, even as they maintained the now visible kinetic energy building between their hands.


    (Got to go all in.) She decided before firing off everything left in her Hand Cannons¡¯ battery clip.


    After the third shot her cannons gave off their reloading ping as they siphoned power from her COMP to recharge. Something that would¡¯ve left her completely vulnerable to the psychic¡¯s assault if the shattering of their shield didn¡¯t force them back another step disrupting their building attack.


    Refusing to let her opponent catch their breath, she quickly rolled back onto her feet before in a surge of adrenaline rushing forward and tackling the psychic to the ground.


    Quickly climbing on top, she pinned her opponent to the ground and raised a freshly loaded Hand Cannon before firing it into the ground next to the psychic¡¯s head. ¡°Surrender?¡±


    The psychic blinked up at her, their eyes dazed and a little out of focus as a splotch of red began to build on their mask, ¡°Wha?¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but grimace, as she realized she¡¯d probably given the other teen a concussion in that tackle. ¡°Do you give up?¡±


    Her opponent slowly blinked once more before giving a brief struggle as if seeing if they could throw her off, during which she let her Hand Cannon threateningly hum.


    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± The other teen cursed as they let their head fall back. ¡°Yeah, I give¡­ Headaches growing too much¡­¡±


    With that worrying statement, her opponent tapped the ground three times signaling to the announcer that they were forfeiting.


    ¡°And our mystery M.A.D. wins their second bout!¡± The announcer¡¯s voice proclaimed as those watching gave their applause as she stood up. ¡°This puts them in first place amongst our newcomers and sets them up for their first fight against a returning competitor next round!¡±


    (Oh, right¡­ That¡¯s going to be interesting.)


    (At the very least they¡¯ll give us more of a challenge than our previous opponents.) Her inner reason agreed.


    She glanced down at them as they sort of just sat there with a dazed look on their face. (Which given how much of a fight this one gave us¡­) She was going to have to be smarter if she wanted to win the next round.


    Deciding that was something she could think about during her break she instead focused on the clearly concussed teen in front of her, ¡°Hey, uh, you okay? You¡¯re looking a little out of it.¡±


    The psychic blinked up at her before nodding. ¡°Yeah... brain damage ¡®ll heal in¡­ a few minutes¡­¡±


    ¡°Brain damage?¡± She frowned, thinking that was something that would take longer than a few minutes to heal.


    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± Her previous opponent nodded. ¡°Psychics damage our brains with our¡­ powers and then heal it¡­ stronger¡­¡±


    ¡°Not sure if that¡¯s how it works¡­¡± She admitted, eyeing as the medic made their way onto the field.


    ¡°It does.¡± The psychic assured her as they tried and failed to pick themselves up. ¡°Okay, room is¡­ spinning a bit fast¡­¡±


    ¡°Brain damage will do that.¡± She grimaced, a cautious look at the medic.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take care of them from here.¡± The medic promised as they crouched over the psychic teen and began doing some light examinations, such as shining a light in front of the teen¡¯s eyes. ¡°Definitely got a concussion, but you¡¯re a psychic so you can probably walk it off.¡±


    (So that is a thing.)


    ¡°Told you.¡± The psychic smirked, having possibly read her mind.


    (I don¡¯t believe they did.)


    (Yeah, it¡¯s too cluttered in here to read anything.)


    ¡°We need to get this mask off of you. Even if you can walk the concussion off, holding the blood from your nosebleed to your face isn¡¯t a good idea.¡± The medic warned the teen before giving Maya a pointed look. ¡°And unless they say otherwise, you aren¡¯t allowed to see their face.¡±


    ¡°Right, got it.¡± She nodded, hands raised as she turned away from the pair. (I need to figure out what I¡¯m doing with this break anyway.)

 Tru Grit鈥檚 Fight Pits: First Tourney (Pt. 5): The Elven Practitioner Vs. The Guild Member

    Tru Grit¡¯s Fight Pits: First Tourney (Pt. 5): The Elven Practitioner Vs. The Guild Member


    --- Maya Williams ---


    Deciding once more that information was power, she quickly made her way out of the arena, only instead of trying to just get a general look of things by watching the TV she instead decided to see if she could get a full and proper scan of one of the other top four. The idea being that one of these people might actually be one worth adding to her database to dissect for whatever ideas she could come up with.


    To this point she decided to go after the one that was arguably the most unique of the three others, of whom -the various screens showing replays told her- were a girl using shields similar to her previous opponent, the girl with the potted plant, and the one that had caught her inner Madness¡¯s attention.


    (Trust me, this¡¯ll be worth it. We just have to get there before her next match ends.) Said Madness assured her.


    Fighting her way through the crowd that had built up as the tournament progressed, she spotted several interesting people in her search of her target, each very clearly a Deviant of some kind. From a man in a cowboy hat with glowing shadowed eyes to an oddly familiar monochrome teen wearing (are those groucho marx glasses?)


    (I¡­ believe so?) Her inner reason answered, sounding unsure. (My perception is flickering a little bit.)


    (What¡¯s that mean?) She frowned, her eyes straining to find the guy who weirdly blended into the crowd in spite of his appearance.


    (Hey, focus!)


    ¡°Right¡­¡± She mumbled, shaking her head and getting back to her search. ¡°Got distracted.¡±


    (I know, also it was really weird being the one who had to say that. I mean I¡¯m supposed to be the easily distracted scatterbrained one. That¡¯s my gimmick, I¡¯m a reflection of your insane fractured mind culminating in my irrefutable genius that cannot be denied!)


    (And her megalomania¡­)


    (It¡¯s not megalomania when you¡¯re right.)


    (In which case it¡¯s probably delusion.)


    (Hey!)


    ¡°Wait, wait.¡± She interrupted her own delusions as she looked down on an arena with two girls in it, one wearing one of the Gamer Guild¡¯s neon splattered hoodies and the other having green dyed hair and pointed ears. ¡°Is that her¡­ the elf?¡±


    (Please tell me you didn¡¯t drag us here for another one of your waifus¡­) Her inner logic sighed with no small amount of disappointment.


    (No. That¡¯s just a happy coincidence; the other one is the one I wanted us to Scan.) Her inner Madness promised.


    (You sure because¡­ elves aren¡¯t normal.) She pointed out. (Maybe we should get a Scan of her? See how different her biology is from ours?)


    (No. Now is the time for science not smut.) Her inner scientist scolded.


    ¡°What? No! That¡¯s not what I meant!¡± She hissed at herself, earning a few looks for her outburst from the crowd that promptly looked away upon seeing her gear.


    (Maya I live in your head, I know exactly what you think when you hear ¡®biology¡¯, and it¡¯s not the science. I mean you¡¯ve completely neglected that skill compared to everything else. We only get a passive gain because of growing more herbs and minion food at this point.)


    Deciding it was best to just ignore her raving madness she instead turned her attention onto the girl that had caught its attention once more as the announcer signalled for the fight to begin, the barrier around it briefly flashing to life.


    The elf started things off by promptly throwing out a trio of violet fireballs, ones notably smaller yet denser than what her own opponent had thrown at her.


    Rather than being thrown off by this her target merely grinned before swinging her arm and manifesting what looked like a massive knight¡¯s gauntlet to block the flames.


    ¡°Okay¡­ that¡¯s interesting¡­¡± She admitted, as she went ahead and started moving around the arena to make sure the girl was within her scanning range.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    (Told you~)


    (I¡¯m curious as to whether this is an ability common to the Gamer¡¯s Guild or one unique to her like Decker¡¯s music?) Her inner reason wondered, beginning to dissect the girl¡¯s power even before they could scan her. (If you look there¡¯s a glow coming off of the limb, a blue one that¡¯s far more prominent when she first brings it into existence.)


    As if to underline this a second gauntlet formed in the air before rocketing towards the elven girl, who in turn manifested her own violet shield covered in a complicated runic script.


    (We might want to try scanning her arm too.) She realized, once she finally got to a point where she could give the other teen a proper in depth scan of her and her powers.


    The elven girl put her hands together and made several hand gestures -that Maya couldn¡¯t see past the shield- before slamming her hands onto the ground and in a burst of blue electricity replaced her shield with a rock wall that completely blocked her from sight.


    While this happened she got her first bits of data on the girl showing off her vitals to be normal if notably more athletic than Maya herself, who had been working out with Izzy for a couple of months now. (The only thing really worth noting is that there¡¯s a notable warping to her EM field around her head.)


    Her target easily smashed through the rock wall, only to find the elven girl had disappeared from behind it. The guild member looked around the arena, her arms floating in the air behind her and staying in the same relative position from her body as she slowly spun in place.


    (Alright, let''s try scanning those arms now.) She wasn¡¯t sure how much she¡¯d get from this but she was hoping it¡¯d provide valuable data of some kind.


    From behind her target the elven girl reappeared as she cast some violet light in her hand to the side before pushing both hands forward and unleashing a bolt of lightning at the guild member¡¯s back.


    (Oh, now that is interesting~) She couldn¡¯t help but grin as she realized that the gauntlets were actually¡­


    Behind the guild member a large object briefly flashed into existence taking the electricity on before disappearing alongside the arms that had connected to it.


    (She¡¯s got an entire body to whatever she¡¯s doing.) The outline was vague on her sensors, the majority of the body existing outside of a physical spectrum and only being picked up by the more esoteric of her Scanner¡¯s parts.


    Her target pointed her hand at the elven girl as she formed the gauntlet once more, only this time there was a swirl of blue flames gathering within the invisible giant¡¯s hand.


    Quickly realizing what was happening the elven girl rushed forward while forming another shield, allowing her to run through the blue flames that spewed forth from the gauntlet¡¯s palm.


    Bursting free of the flames the elven girl threw her shield into the air behind the guild member, even as a second gauntlet began to form on the opposite side. The runic script briefly spun in the air before exploding into a second more complex circle in an explosion of pink electricity.


    Whatever this did was enough to stagger the guild member as both her gauntlets flashed out of existence, sealing the fight as the elven girl formed another fireball in hand.


    Or it would¡¯ve if the guild member didn¡¯t ignore the fire to deliver a right hook hard enough to knock the elven girl off her feet and onto the ground, her flames disappearing just as easily.


    The guild member ran forward and mounted the elven girl with a fist raised into the air, much like Maya had her previous opponent.


    Briefly she saw another sphere of flame appear in the elven girl¡¯s hand as she glared up at the guild member, before fading as the elf smashed it against the ground rather than her opponent¡¯s face.


    (So she gave up just like that?) She frowned.


    (Well everyone is given two chances outside the final fight. She might be deciding that drawing the fight out here isn¡¯t worth it?) Her inner logic tried to reason. (Perhaps she has limited resources for her abilities and is pacing herself by calling a fight she was likely to lose. At the very least it¡¯s a problem we need to consider ourselves given our limited COMP battery.)


    She couldn¡¯t help but grimace at that reminder, especially since her scans of the guild member had cost her at least two more units of power. (But at the very least those are going to be worth a lot once I go over them.)


    (A task that¡¯s going to have to wait until after the tournament if we don¡¯t want to miss our next fight.) Her more responsible self pointed out. (With this round over we¡¯ve likely only ten or fifteen minutes to find our own arena.)


    (Right¡­) She sighed, giving the combatants one last look as she wondered if her next fight was going to be on that level.


    (Bah! It¡¯s nothing we can¡¯t handle. Until we run out of power we can kick the ass of anyone who comes our way!) Her inner Madness assured her.


    She took a breath before nodding to herself. ¡°Yeah, I can do this.¡±


    While trying to keep that confidence in mind she made her way through the halls of the fight pit and to her waiting room, if only to find out which set of doors led to her next fight. Doors she made it to just a few moments before the light to enter flashed.


    Once more stepping out into one of the fight pits, she found that the crowd that had gathered was notably bigger than her previous fights, this one looking more like the one that had gathered to watch the elven girl and the guild member fight.


    (Just ignore them. They¡¯re not a threat to us and they have no idea who we are.)


    Doing just that she turned her attention to the other side of the arena where an oddly familiar girl wearing glasses and a yellow jacket was stepping out while carrying a potted plant under one arm.


    (Alright, let¡¯s do this.)

 Tru Grit鈥檚 Fight Pits: First Tourney (Pt. 6): A Floral Finisher

    Tru Grit¡¯s Fight Pits: First Tourney (Pt. 6): A Floral Finisher


    --- Maya Williams ---


    (What do you guys remember about her fight?) She asked her other selves, ignoring the announcer as she tried to recall what she¡¯d seen when trying to scout everyone¡¯s fights on the screen a few rounds back.


    (She¡¯s a plant user, likely using the one in her hand as a weapon of some kind.) Her inner reason told her.


    (That¡¯s the obvious stuff! She makes it grow to be a giant lashing limb.) Her inner madness tacked on.


    (Obvious perhaps, but invaluable. As is noting the fact that she¡¯s got a satchel wrapped around her. Given her floral nature it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if she uses her plants to make arcane concoctions similar to our Chems.) Her inner logic continued.


    (And there¡¯s no telling what ¡®magic¡¯ drugs can do to someone.)


    (Get them high?)


    (Not the time.) She frowned, her eyes narrowing as she noticed that despite the announcer telling them to start her opponent was just watching her.


    (She could be a defensive fighter. A surprise burst from her plant.) Her inner reason figured.


    (Maybe¡­) She thought, before deciding to give her opponent something to defend against by setting off a Heat-Burst() in front of the other girl.


    Unlike her previous opponents that had been caught off guard by her previous Bursts() her current one merely hopped a few steps back to avoid the worst of the heat. Seemingly uncaring about what heat did reach her.


    ¡°Fireproof jacket!¡± The other girl explained with an amused grin as she reached behind her with her free hand.


    (Okay, so smart enough to make herself heat resistant.) Maya guessed, before wondering. (I wonder how heat resistant?)


    With a bit of careful movement on both her headset and her COMP, she set off a couple more Heat Bursts() around her opponent. Making sure that each one was placed in such a way that they couldn¡¯t be avoided, even if it did burn through more of her power than she liked.


    Unfortunately, this didn¡¯t amount to much as the older teen threw something in front of her, turning the burst of fire into a veritable flashbang that Maya had to look away from.


    When she turned back she found her foe standing there seemingly none the worse for wear. (Damn it. What¡¯d she do to null the flames?)


    Deciding that she couldn¡¯t afford to waste anymore power on a strategy that clearly wasn¡¯t going to work, she realized, (I¡¯m going to have to get closer.)


    The fact that her opponent had made no move to do so themselves, made her paranoid about why that was probably a risky move. Something she told herself she could avoid if she (Just focus on moving and not getting hit. If I get close enough I can hopefully zap her and stun her long enough to hit her with my hammer.)


    With half a plan in mind she rushed forward, keeping her eyes on her opponent and waiting for the moment that the other girl-(Now!)


    Ducked to the side, having to drop into a slide on one of her knees to avoid a sudden rush of foliage at her face. A rush of foliage that quickly began to loop around in an attempt to crash into her.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    An attempt that she just barely avoided by diving underneath the part of the plant that had already rushed her, causing it to wall off its own path as she hit the ground.


    Quickly raising her Hand Cannon she fired off a concussive blast at her opponent, hoping that it would be enough to force them to drop the ever growing plant.


    Something the other girl avoided by spinning in place and causing Maya¡¯s attack to hit the plant instead. A plant that was quickly rushing at her as the spin rippled down its form as if the tree sized flora was made of rubber.


    Not sure what else she could do, she quickly fired both of her Hand Cannons at the coming wave of foliage causing a laser blast of light, and a concussive blast of sound to smash into it. Bits of plant matter splashed and scratched at her as the combination severed the moving tree trunk, sending half of it flying past her even as the other half retracted back to the potted plant that had apparently been shattered on the ground where it was beginning to take root.


    A whistle drew her attention to her opponent standing a bit away from the broken plant. ¡°Not bad. Takes a decent amount to break one of these things even with magic.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Well my tech is just that good.¡± She huffed, as she got back to her feet, her eyes darting between her opponent and the broken tree. (I¡­ don¡¯t trust this. If the plant is her main weapon, why separate from it?)


    The other girl gave her a considering look. ¡°So that¡¯s not magic you¡¯re using?¡±


    She couldn¡¯t help but grit her teeth at that (blasphemous) idea. ¡°No, it¡¯s not.¡±


    ¡°Interesting¡­¡± Her opponent mumbled.


    Seeing her opponent at least half distracted, Maya raised her Hand Cannon and fired a beam of light at the other girl.


    Who apparently wasn¡¯t as distracted as Maya thought with the way she ducked out of the beam''s path before throwing something at the M.A.D..


    Reflexively she raised her arms to block whatever had been thrown at her only to feel nothing hit.


    ¡°What?¡± She blinked before narrowing her eyes at her opponent watching her smugly.


    ¡°Made you flinch.¡± The other girl taunted.


    With a growl she stomped forward, grabbing her Heavy Weight with one hand even as she reached out with the other fully intent on (tasing this bitch) with her ring.


    The swipe with her hand missed, the other girl easily stepping out of the way just as she did the follow up swing from Maya¡¯s Heavy Weight. A swing that was just the start of a reckless onslaught of swings with the hammer-like weapon, each of which was just as easily sidestepped as the rest. None of which was helped by how quickly her arms were growing tired from her little rampage.


    A rampage she gave up on, deciding (fuck it) and dropped her Heavy Weight before raising Hand Cannons, ready to just unload everything she had on the other girl.


    Only as she tried to aim, her arms continued to grow heavier even without her literal Heavy Weight in hand. Something that caused her to notice the faint gripping sensation around the edges of her armor, and in turn the bits of green that were latched onto the outer bits of her armor. ¡°The fuck?¡±


    Looking closer, she found all of the green bits had connected to each other via a system of vines that she hadn¡¯t been able to notice with how much she¡¯d been swinging her arms about. Especially not with the way they were actively avoiding clinging to the parts of her outfit she could actually feel through.


    ¡°Ah, finally noticed my stranglethorns?¡± Her opponent grinned as she walked over and used Maya¡¯s locked arm as a rest. ¡°Nasty little things. Grab onto their prey and strangle them to death before using the body as fertilizer for its seedlings. I¡¯ll tell you breeding a strain small enough to be this subtle but still strong enough to restrain has been a bitch and a half.¡±


    Maya glared at the other girl as she struggled against the plant holding her in place, even feeling it give a bit before the vines actually began to wrap more thoroughly around her. Enough so that she could feel them starting to painfully cut into her wherever they wrapped around her hoodie instead of her armor.


    ¡°This can last as long as you like.¡± The other girl told her, so unconcerned that she pulled a -is that a cigar?- out and started fiddling with it as the vines around Maya grew even tighter, slowly creeping around her throat.


    With grit teeth and spiteful streak, she considered setting off a Heat Burst() right here, too close for her opponent to actually dodge. The fact that it would hurt her as well, (might be worth it just to wipe off that smug face¡­)


    Eventually though she forced herself to remember that, (Even if I lose this fight I¡¯m not out of the tournament. It¡¯s not worth wearing myself down even more¡­)


    ¡°Fine¡­¡± She spat, smart enough to know when to call it. ¡°You win¡­¡±

 Tru Grit鈥檚 Fight Pits: First Tourney (Pt. 7): Floral Scans

    Tru Grit¡¯s Fight Pits: First Tourney (Pt. 7): Floral Scans


    --- Maya Williams ---


    ¡°Smart girl.¡± The smug magic user grinned, as the vines one Maya quickly began to retract before falling to the ground when the announcer declared The Urban Druidess the winner to the audience¡¯s applause.


    Part of her wanted to lash out at the other girl, but she was smart enough to both know how unfavorably lashing out after things were called would look as well as remember Anavi¡¯s warning about how far she¡¯d be able to go in this tournament. (And also smart enough to get as many scans as possible¡­)


    Eyes quickly flicking through her headset¡¯s UI, Maya quickly queued up a few concurrent runs of her Scan() program as her megalomania roared that, (We¡¯ll learn her dark ways, dissect her magic, and then when we¡¯re stronger crush her beneath our heel like the cabrona she is!)


    (Dial it back a bit.) Her inner reason suggested.


    (No. I¡¯m feeling it.) She disagreed, as the first of her scans finished rather quickly. Her program having apparently gotten information much faster with so many instances of the small ¡®Strangle Thorns¡¯ that had pinned her in place moments prior.


    ¡°Careful with that glare, your face might get stuck like that.¡± Her opponent warned, more amused than threatened as she toyed with the cigar in her hands. ¡°If you want I can offer you something to help take the edge off?¡±


    A quick scan of it told her that the cigar was actually a weed joint. (Technically. It seems like she mutated to be a different species than the one more typically made and outlawed in our state.)


    Tempted her inner id pointed out that, (You know medically speaking there¡¯s nothing wrong with-)


    (We¡¯ve never done drugs and we will not be starting now.) Her inner logic interrupted.


    (What about all of our M.A.D. serums? Those are all technically drugs?) Her inner child argued more for the sake of it than anything else.


    And even if she only really had the healing serums, she had to admit that, (She¡¯s got a point there.) Even if that ¡®she¡¯ was her own insanity speaking.


    (True, but we made those with our science and know what¡¯s in them.) Her inner reason reminded her, before purposely tacking on that, (Hers were made with magic.)


    (Wait¡­) Her inner madness began with a slowly dawning sort of horro, (Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck! I almost put magic in our body! Gross, gross, gross, gro-o-oss!!! Of fuck, that¡¯s so gross¡­)


    (And this is why you¡¯re not in charge.) Her inner logic smugly admitted.


    Shaking her head clear of that bit of internal melodrama, the magic user mistook that as a response and shrugged. ¡°Suit yourself.¡±


    As the other girl turned back towards the arena exits, another one of Maya¡¯s scans deemed itself complete as the druidess used her magic to collect all of the remnants of her plants. Not leaving a single physical sample for anyone else to collect for their own research. (Which is why it¡¯s so good that I don¡¯t need a sample to research¡­)


    Feeling, not quite satisfied but at the very least accepting of her consolation prize, she started back towards her own break room as she started to go over the different scans she¡¯d taken on her COMP.


    The easiest one to understand were the ¡®Stangle Thorns¡¯, the plants capable of not actual movement but rather rapid growth movement that resulted in an extremely constrictive force as the plant grew larger. This hormone release causing the sudden growth of the plants while also removing their malleability, and¡­ She wasn¡¯t actually sure what was supposed to happen past that point.


    While she had a basic understanding of Biology (by M.A.D. standards of course) her actual understanding wasn¡¯t enough to tell her what was going on with the plant. At least not without actually growing some for herself.


    Something that this scan -plus a few bits of plant matter still clinging beneath her armor- would allow her to do with pretty much any bio-pod. (At least with a few modifications to the bio-pod and its programming¡­)If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    The larger plant was more of a mystery, in how it moved. The rapid growth and flexibility were both¡­ plausible in a way but they also weren¡¯t in any way a natural part of the plant¡¯s biology. Whatsmore without any samples she actually couldn¡¯t double check her scans like with the Strangle Thorns. (Meaning that this isn¡¯t something I can understand without actually combing through the data and a metric-shit ton of research.)


    Acknowledging that scan as a bust until she could actually go over the data with her Informant Network() for a couple hours, she moved onto what was arguably the most interesting scan of this set. Because despite just being a scan of a human, this was a scan of a human using magic and depending on what she could milk out of that could also be the key to figuring out the science behind magic.


    (Realistically speaking, I don¡¯t see a singular scan of a random magic user offering us the key to the mystery M.A.D.s have spent decades trying to crack.) Her inner reason pointed out.


    (Yes, but that¡¯s because none of them were as brilliant as us!) Her inner megalomania reminded herself.


    ¡°At the very least it¡¯ll offer us a starting point to figuring out that secret.¡± She nodded, her finger slipping and- ¡°Why is she naked?!¡±


    She looked away, her heart pounding in her chest as she tried very hard not to click the UI function that would pull the image she¡¯d just seen onto her headset.


    (Uh, what were you expecting to see when you pulled up an image of someone you scanned with a ton of semi-invasive equipment?)


    ¡°Not tha- They were never naked before!¡± She tried to argue. ¡°They were always these grey meshes wearing clothes. Like video game models without the colors!¡±


    (Ah, yes¡­ well, you¡¯ve never actually gone over the data for anyone you¡¯ve scanned before. With our current upgrades being rather recent.) Her inner reason explained. (As such you simply had the most surface of details, without any actual simulation points.)


    (And technically, they¡¯re still grey meshes¡­ just without clothes.) Her inner madness added unhelpfully. (And we could fix that color thing with like a simple bool flip. More specifically the one right in the corner of-)


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me!¡± She interrupted. ¡°I don¡¯t want to know!¡±


    (...) She could feel her inner madness staring at her. (Yes you do.)


    She shook her head in denial.


    (We have a scan of Anavi~) The devil on her shoulder tempted.


    Her heart began to pound in her chest, as she glanced at the COMP, her hand blocking the screen as she resisted the temptation.


    (No. Don¡¯t be a creep Maya. Respect your friends.) The angel on her other shoulder told her.


    (Even the hot ones?) The imaginary devil asked.


    (Especially the hot ones.) The imaginary angel nodded.


    With a grimace she cleared out the COMP screen before running a hand down her face. ¡°Is there a way to turn off the¡­ invasion of privacy?¡±


    (Do you really want to?)


    She took a deep breath before saying. ¡°Yes. No matter how¡­ hot they are I¡¯m not going to perv on people like that. It¡¯s not right. And¡­ I don¡¯t trust myself to be clinical about it.¡±


    (A small censor should be easy enough to implement.) Her inner logic assured her. (Maybe five minutes with a laptop for us.)


    ¡°Right, right. That¡¯s easy.¡± She took another calming breath. ¡°Fuck¡­ I was not expecting any major moral choices today¡­¡±


    (Well, if you need a distraction it looks like it¡¯s about time for your next fight.) Her inner reason offered.


    She glanced at the screen on the tv before nodding to herself. ¡°Yeah, hopefully that¡¯ll get my mind off¡­ whatever.¡± She shook her head before gathering her things and starting through the back halls on her way to her next fight.


    As soon as she got to the doors they flashed on for her to step out into the fight pit, where she found the crowd size hadn¡¯t diminished, even if it looked pretty close to the size of her previous fight. Which made her think about what she¡¯d seen a few minutes prior, before shaking her head clear. (Not the time¡­)


    Across from her she easily recognized her opponent as the elven girl she¡¯d watched before her own fight. (Huh, didn¡¯t think she¡¯d be the first one I fight¡­)


    (Perhaps it¡¯s because we lost our fights so close together? We did all lose the quarter finals in a sense.) Her reason figured.


    ¡°Makes sense¡­¡± She mumbled to herself, glancing at her current status on her headset UI. (Physically I¡¯m still doing good, but¡­ seven power isn¡¯t a whole lot to work with. Especially considering everything I saw her do in her last fight.)


    If she was recalling correctly the elven maiden could throw around fire, create shields, turn invisible, and do whatever she did to freeze the gamer guild girl¡¯s golem. Meaning that barring Decker this girl was arguably her most versatile opponent yet. (And I doubt she¡¯ll tap out as easily as she did in the previous fight, since this is her last chance too.)


    Low power, a complex enemy, and no second chances left. She¡¯d have to be smart if she wanted to win this. (Good thing I¡¯m always smart¡­)

 Tru Grit鈥檚 Fight Pits: First Tourney (Pt. 8): Magic Vs. Science, A Drawn Out Duel

    Tru Grit¡¯s Fight Pits: First Tourney (Pt. 8): Magic Vs. Science, A Drawn Out Duel


    --- Maya Williams ---


    The moment the announcer called the fight she had to dive to the side, a magenta fireball tearing through her previous position. A fireball that was just the first in a flurry of them.


    (Okay, that is significantly faster than the other fire girl!)


    Knowing that she needed to act fast, she glanced towards the elven girl and used her Headset UI to quickly aim and fire off a Burst(Gravity), hoping the sudden weight shift would throw the other teen off.


    And it did seem to do something as rather than firing off another fireball, the magic user paused and tilted her head to the side while running a hand through the mildly distorting air.


    Which left her open to the shot of sound that Maya blasted her way.


    The other girl stumbled back a step, but given the distance wasn¡¯t actually knocked off her feet. Something that allowed her to quickly form a defense against following blasts as a magenta circle filled with complex writing appeared in the air, blocking the waves of sound.


    Not that that stopped Maya from pressing forward, because while her attacks might be doing little to no damage she remembered how the assault had still worn down the shield of the psychic she¡¯d fought.


    Still she grit her teeth as she got close enough that she could reach out and touch the practitioner¡¯s sparking shield. (Come on. This has to be costing you more power than me¡­)


    Clicking her tongue when her clips ran dry, she reached behind her back and grabbed her Heavy Weight as her Hand Cannons began to reload.


    She was close enough to see the elven girl¡¯s eyes go wide even through the shield as Maya swung her hammer. An attack that tore through the shield as if it wasn¡¯t even there and forced the other teen to hop back to avoid being hit.


    Before the other teen could get away, Maya followed her swing up with another closer one only for it to crash into what felt like a brick wall.


    Her eyes narrowed as she saw the elven girl struggling to hold Maya¡¯s Heavy Weight in place with a tense look and a circle that was significantly smaller than the previous one.


    (With how much that circle is sparking this is definitely costing you more power than me.) She grinned, putting as much of her weight as she could into the scrap hammer.


    The elven girl¡¯s eyes met hers for a moment before narrowing.


    Faster than she could react the Arcane teen shoved her hands to the side, sending both the spell circle and the Heavy Weight away with them, and forcing Maya off balance with the sudden weight shift.


    As the Heavy Weight slipped out of her hand she watched the elven girl¡¯s hands flicker through- (Are those Naruto hand signs?)- before pushing them forward and launching Maya off her feet.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Crashing to the ground several meters away she couldn¡¯t help but curse, ¡°Fu-uck!¡±


    A sentiment that doubled when she saw the noticeable dent in her armor. (Shit, that would¡¯ve shattered half my ribcage¡­)


    Her eyes darted towards the elven girl, only to find her opponent missing. (Where?) ¡°Shit! Invisibility!¡±


    She scrambled back onto her feet, eyes darting around the arena for anything that could give away the other girl¡¯s position before she could ambush Maya. (Think. Think. Think! Stealth Protocols! Mine work via manipulating and bending light around me so maybe¡­)


    Working quickly, Maya loaded up a Burst() of Light on her COMP and began adjusting the parameters. Switching things around to focus less on a blinding light and more on creating as large of a Burst as possible and then shifting the light frequency ever so slightly. Uncaring of how these modifications made the program worthless as an actual attack. (Remove buffs then attack!)


    The moment the quick-modded program was done she fired it off in the center of the arena, her eyes darting around as a black light washed over everything. An unexpected light variably that she knew her own Stealth Protocols would do nothing to hide her underneath.


    Still she didn¡¯t see her opponent anywhere, (which means!)


    She dove forward, and spun on the ground to aim her Hand Cannons at the now revealed and wide-eyed elven girl standing with both a hand and a sharp knife raised roughly at neck height.


    Not giving the girl a chance Maya fired off twin blasts of Sound, the combined force enough to launch the other teen back and into the fight pit wall. And not trusting that to be enough, she fired off another set of blasts for good measure.


    ¡°Fu-u-uck!¡± The other girl groaned, wrapping an arm around her chest. ¡°You don¡¯t¡­ You don¡¯t need to triple tap!¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re giving up?¡± She checked, not lowering her Hand Cannons.


    The other girl shifted with a grimace. ¡°Think you cracked a rib.¡±


    ¡°And you almost cracked half of mine.¡± She pointed out, with a nod towards her chestplate.


    The elven girl tilted her head. ¡°Fair.¡±


    Her eyes narrowed, noticing that something was up. ¡°Quit stalling and forfeit or I¡¯ll start blasting again.¡± (She¡¯s probably trying to heal her rib or something.)


    ¡°Fine¡­¡± The other girl sighed, her face twisting, before raising the arm around her chest and tapping it on the ground twice.


    When the third didn¡¯t come, Maya¡¯s eyes went wide as the elven girl raised her other hand. The one that had been laying on the ground where an arcane symbol could now be seen drawn in the dirt.


    She pulled the trigger on her Hand Cannon.


    The girl¡¯s hand hit the ground at the same moment.


    There was a blast of light, sound, and most importantly pain.


    When the worst of it faded she found herself laying on the ground and barely able to pick her head off the ground.


    It wasn¡¯t much, but it was enough for her to see the elven girl slumped against the wall, her eyes blinking in a stunned daze.


    Unwilling to give the other girl a chance to recover, Maya pressed her hand against the ground to pick herself up and continue the fight.


    Or that was the plan before her arm spasmed and she fell back to the ground, everything hurting twice as much after the failed recovery. Enough so that while she could try to get up she wasn¡¯t sure it was worth it.


    Especially no when, despite the ringing in her ears and the roar of the crowd, she could still make out the announcer¡¯s voice as he declared that, ¡°In a stunning turn, both our mystical sorceress and our insane M.A.D. have rendered each other unable to continue! An explosive finish that even our finalists are going to have trouble topping!¡±


    ¡°Fuck¡­¡± She cursed, laying there. (Well¡­ At least the other girl didn¡¯t win¡­)

 Tru Grit鈥檚 Fight Pit, First Tourney (Pt. 9): Sufficiently Advanced Science

    Tru Grit¡¯s Fight Pit, First Tourney (Pt. 9): Sufficiently Advanced Science


    --- Maya Williams ---


    Given how badly she¡¯d ended up getting hurt, Maya found herself on the receiving end of the fight club¡¯s medical attentions. Or rather she and her opponent got the ever so hospitable statement of, ¡°Since you two decided to basically set off a bomb in each other¡¯s faces we¡¯re going to have to wait for one of our better medics to come in and fix you dumbasses.¡±


    Which is how she found herself sharing a waiting room with the girl who had set off said bomb in her face, both of them covered in a variety of scrapes and bruises. Several of which the elven girl was slowly running over with a small spell circle in her hand.


    After a moment of her watching the other girl -and ignoring the final fight on the screen- her last opponent told her that, ¡°If you ask nicely instead of staring I can give you a patch job too. It won¡¯t bring you to a hundred percent but it also won¡¯t hurt as bad while we¡¯re stuck waiting.¡±


    She narrowed her eyes at the healing magic, aware that she was going to have to accept something like that from the medics. (But that doesn¡¯t mean I have to accept it from this cheating bitch¡­) Especially not with that underlying attitude.


    ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± She answered, going through her things and pulling out some of the healing herbs she¡¯d grown before grinding it up and mixing it into a water bottle. Something that while not quite as potent as her actual healing serum should at the very least allow the medicinal properties to fill her body once she loosened her faceplate. (Too bad it tastes like shit¡­)


    (It would be better to soak in this rather than drinking it¡­) Her inner logic noted, with an audible cringe.


    (Now you tell me.) She grimaced, the bitter flavor sticking to her tongue.


    (We must make sacrifices to one up the filthy magic user!) Her inner madness argued.


    ¡°You do know that cold brewing tea takes time, right?¡± Said filthy magic user asked with a grimace of her own before lighting a small flame in her hand. ¡°Seriously, I have no problem warming that bottle up for you just to fix that¡­ abomination.¡±


    (We don¡¯t need her filthy magic!)


    ¡°I¡¯m good.¡± She repeated, fully aware that she did not sound ¡®good¡¯ at all as she brought the bottle to her mouth once more before promptly sticking it out to the elven girl. ¡°If you can fix this please do¡­¡±


    (Pride is not worth poisoning myself over¡­)


    (The fuck it isn¡¯t!)


    The other teen let out a huff of amusement, before accepting the bottle and heating it up between her hands. ¡°Now we just put the top back on¡­¡±


    Getting the hint, she did just that.


    ¡°And we shake the heated bottle up before letting it sit for¡­ I¡¯ll say three minutes, given how this is probably a green tea given the color.¡± The elven girl told her before setting the bottle on the table. ¡°And then your little potion should be ready.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a potion¡­¡± She grumbled.


    The other teen rolled her eyes. ¡°Potioneering and Chemistry are mirrored schools. The main difference is that Potioneering also requires a conceptual relation and preparation element as an additional variable.¡±


    ¡°Chemistry is a science.¡± She argued. ¡°Everything is formulaic, consistent, and repeatable once known! Magic has all these¡­ fluffy bits.¡±


    ¡°That depends on the field of study, in reality you¡¯ve hard magics such as Ritualism and soft magics such as Willcraft just like you do hard sciences and soft sciences.¡± The other teen pointed out before narrowing her eyes. ¡°Besides, can you really say that your Mad Science doesn¡¯t have fluffy bits? I mean how often do you make sparktech that no normal scientist can replicate?¡±


    She winced. ¡°That¡¯s just super advanced science that they haven¡¯t figured out. Other M.A.D.s can get it with time.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± The elven girl drawled before giving her a smug smirk. ¡°You know that reminds me of a famous saying, ¡®Any sufficiently advanced science is indistinguishable from magic¡¯... And well that elemental stuff of yours was very advanced science. I mean, gravity manipulation? That¡¯s a very advanced bit of spell work you¡¯ve got there.¡±


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°Oh, you bitch¡­¡± She hissed, eyes narrowing.


    ¡°You say that like it¡¯s a bad thing.¡± The elven teen leaned in with a fanged grin as her eyes flashed yellow.


    (Burn the blasphemer in fire!)


    (Let¡¯s please not commit any crimes!)


    (It¡¯s not a crime if no court of law will try us!)


    (Factually and morally incorrect!)


    She took a deep breath before letting it out. ¡°I really want to punch you right now.¡±


    ¡°I have that effect on people.¡± The other girl shrugged, before backing off. ¡°Still I really am curious about how you did the gravity trick. Shooting out lightning and even the pyrotechnics you showed off against Audrey make sense depending on your tech but that one is weird.¡±


    She wasn¡¯t entirely sure about revealing her powerset, but at the same time there was a part of her that- (Prove to her we¡¯re not using filthy magic! Show off the superiority of our science!) Well, that.


    ¡°The world is made of numbers and variables. By adding a focused amount of energy to specific variables you can create a cascading effect that simulates the natural reaction that would occur.¡± She tried to explain as vaguely as possible. (I mean, it¡¯s not like a magic user is going to understand the science behind my hacking.)


    ¡°So by adding energy to molecules you accelerate their movement thus generating a concussive force, or the molecular electron jumps thus simulating electricity. Though not quite to the level of natural lightning given how I survived being zapped multiple times¡­ likely a proportionality limiter induced via the energy input to output formula.¡± The arcane teen expanded her explanation with a nod before gaining a thoughtful look. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t quite explain the fire given a lack of a flammable substance in the air¡­ unless it¡¯s not actually fire but a hyper condensed sphere of heat being released, and then mistaken as fire due to distortions in the light which in itself could be a waste material of the artificial reaction to control the damage output.¡±


    (...)


    (...)


    (...)


    The girl gave her a look. ¡°That still doesn¡¯t explain the gravity distortion though.¡±


    (...)


    (...)


    (...)


    ¡°Hello?¡± The elven teen snapped her fingers in front of Maya''s face.


    ¡°Sustained rotation of energy surrounding otherwise stable masses results in distortions simulating gravity in rounded shapes!¡± She blurted¡­ loudly.


    ¡°Oh.¡± The other girl blinked, before considering that for a moment and gaining a smile. ¡°Oh!¡±


    The arcane teen stood up and began drawing something in the air with a magenta light, the text making absolutely no sense to Maya even if she could vaguely recognize that there were a number of patterns slowly forming within the circle.


    ¡°It¡¯s rough but that should do it.¡± The elven girl decided, finishing her spell circle after several minutes. ¡°Now let¡¯s just run it¡­¡±


    The other teen put her hands above the circle which began to slowly spark with pink lightning, the space below it gaining an odd sort of hue. ¡°Alright, do you mind dropping something inside?¡±


    Maya glanced at the arcane whose face was visibly straining, before spilling a bit of her herbal water within and watching it gently float to the ground rather than outright falling. At least for the few seconds before the circle fizzled out of existence.


    ¡°Shit!¡± The other girl cursed, rubbing at her hands. ¡°That was a power hog¡­¡±


    ¡°Cylindrical distortions are better for horizontal shifts. Spheres are better for a generalized field.¡± She offered in something of a daze.


    ¡°Something to consider for further refinement.¡± The arcane teen nodded, pulling out a notebook and pen from seemingly nowhere and writing. ¡°Any other notes?¡±


    ¡°You can use existing gravitational bodies to reduce the overall shift if you angle the sphere right to bend the energy.¡± She offered, a bit unsure about how to take the request.


    ¡°Thus bleeding the earth¡¯s gravity towards the moon or the sun, increasing the otherwise negligible force it has on a person!¡± The other girl eagerly scribbled. ¡°In which case, if we were to calculate for tidal force which is roughly in the quadrillionths per pound for the moon and half that for the sun¡­ You could theoretically increase the bend output factor to double during the lunar phase or triple while both are out¡­ Unless the splitting of energy between two celestial bodies is less efficient?¡±


    ¡°Um, I¡¯ve only focused on singular variable swapping but, uh,¡± She double checked with the whispers. ¡°Theoretically¡­ the forces are acting as a sort of weave in their influence so while I wouldn¡¯t say triple it probably would be more efficient to split it. Though I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll be worth it for other bodies such as mars or venus due to how low the effect can get.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll play around with it and see what I can find.¡± The Arcane teen looked up at the TV screen where the fight on it appeared to be wrapping up and grimaced. ¡°Ugh¡­ I¡¯ve got to get going.¡±


    ¡°What, uh, what about the medic?¡± She found herself asking as she watched the other girl begin collecting her things and feeling weird about it.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got my own healing stuff¡­ when my magic refills anyway.¡± The elven teen told her, before scribbling something out on a piece of paper and shoving it into Maya¡¯s hands. ¡°I really would love to keep talking shop, but I need to go meet up with someone and collect my winnings or I will never hear the end of it.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ okay.¡± She blinked, looking down at the scrap of paper with a phone number on it.


    ¡°Call me and we can set something up. Maybe collaborate on something?¡± The other girl offered, as she slowly walked backwards out of the room before turning towards the door. ¡°I¡¯m getting a surprising amount out of them lately.¡±


    Maya simply sat there in silence at the number that she¡¯d gotten from talking nerd with another girl. A genius girl (who is kind of cute) (and a magic user?)


    (...)


    (...)


    (I have very mixed feelings about all of this!!!)

 Tru Grit鈥檚 Fight Pit, First Tourney (Pt. 10): Prize And Exit

    Tru Grit¡¯s Fight Pit, First Tourney (Pt. 10): Prize And Exit


    --- Maya Williams ---


    It wasn¡¯t much longer until the fight pit medic came around to see her, and after a series of semi-aggressive questions and an explanation that the elf girl had left on her own, she found herself sort of just sitting around her waiting room.


    On the one hand she was kind of disappointed that she hadn¡¯t actually won the whole thing. (Which is only fair given how we¡¯ve only been at this for a few months and some of the contestants very clearly have years of training and experience.)


    But on the other hand she couldn¡¯t help but be a little proud of herself because even if she lost she still, (Kicked the ass of three different pendejos who dared to pick a fight with us, and got the phone number of a hot genius. That¡¯s double win bitches!)


    (So we¡¯re over the fact that said ¡®hot genius¡¯ is a magic user?)


    (I am ignoring that because she is also a real life elf girl.)


    (Which is mildly derogatory towards her, you realize?)


    (She¡¯s a filthy magic user. I can be a lot more derogatory about a lot of other things about her. I¡¯m just setting them aside like you would a person¡¯s craziness for their hotness.)


    That made her pause. ¡°Uh, where would we fall on that scale?¡± Because she was nowhere near naive enough to believe having whatever she had going on with the voices in her head was anything but crazy.


    (...)


    (...)


    She narrowed her eyes at the world around her. ¡°I¡¯m not liking how quiet you two are.¡±


    (Well, factually we¡¯re not unattractive. Especially with our slowly becoming athletic figure¡­) Her inner reason assured her. (It¡¯s just¡­)


    Her inner madness cut in saying, (We be bat shit fucking insane, and I make no promises about not experimenting on someone we date. And I don¡¯t mean that in the fun way¡­) She could feel her mind pausing. (Well, I don¡¯t mean it in just the fun way¡­)


    ¡°Is¡­ is it bad I¡¯m realizing I have all kinds of red flags?¡±


    (We are sadly very self aware.)


    (Actually, thinking about it both ways are the fun way.)


    (Two thirds of us at least.)


    ¡°Red flags?¡± A voice asked curiously.


    She jumped up from where she was sitting, quickly turning and finding, ¡°Anavi!¡± making her face blush for several reasons. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±


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    The older woman blinked with a bemused grin, before holding up an envelope. ¡°The tournament has finished and we were handing out the prizes. When your name came up I came to find you and give it to you.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ but I¡­ didn¡¯t win?¡± She pointed out, unable to help how her face twisted with the admission.


    ¡°True, but Tru makes sure that all fighters get paid when or lose. Though the more difficult the tournament and the better you do the better your prize.¡± Anavi happily explained. ¡°This one was mostly for teenagers, those who are still figuring out their abilities and wish to test themselves more than anything. In fact, apparently a good half of the fighters here today aren¡¯t even going to come back next time, though the winners will be offered an easy entry to the next rank.¡±


    Maya¡¯s face twisted a little more. ¡°Oh, uh, is that a¡­ suggestion or?¡±


    ¡°Oh? Oh! No, no, I was simply explaining things. You actually did fairly well, a bit better than I expected even!¡± The older woman quickly assured her, before her own face twisted into something distasteful. ¡°You probably would¡¯ve done even better if that cheat hadn¡¯t faked a surrender.¡±


    She was a bit taken aback by that, because while she was frustrated with the way she¡¯d lost, she¡­ was mostly over it after her talk with the elven girl.


    (Speak for yourself.)


    (I reiterate: mostly.)


    Either way it wasn¡¯t something she¡¯d expected Anavi to be angry about on her behalf.


    With a warm feeling in her stomach, she rubbed the back of her neck and told her, ¡°Uh, don¡¯t¡­ worry about it? I uh, I don¡¯t think she was really interested in the tournaments anyway. Apparently her friend made her enter with them?¡±


    Anavi didn¡¯t seem quite convinced by that but still shook her head. ¡°Still, it was dishonorable and the kind of offense that would¡¯ve been heavily punished in Yggdrasil.¡±


    An awkward sort of silence filled the air after that, a touch of culture shock apparent between her and the female traveler, one that had her scrambling to end. (Come on, think of something to change the topic¡­)


    Her eyes fell on the envelope Anavi was carrying. ¡°You, uh, you mentioned something about a prize?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes!¡± The older woman nodded before offering the envelope. ¡°Your draw was unfortunately treated as a loss by the rules, but I¡¯ve been told the total earnings are still a fairly decent amount for one your age.¡±


    Accepting the envelope, she went ahead and tore it open before pulling out and quickly counting, ¡°Six hundred and fifty dollars?!¡±


    ¡°Is that a lot for your age?¡± Anavi frowned with mild concern. ¡°I mean I trust Tru when he says his wages are fair, but I¡¯m also aware that an organization this big¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, no this is¡­¡±


    (Roughly two weeks full time at minimum wage in our state.) Her inner reason helpfully supplied.


    ¡°This is¡­ probably more than I¡¯ve carried at once in my life.¡± She assured the older woman. ¡°It may not be a whole lot to someone older but¡­ it¡¯s a lot to me at least.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that¡¯s good.¡± Anavi gave her a relieved nod and smile.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± She nodded back, her mind thinking of all the things she could build with this much money.


    (We are going to burn through all of this in a week tops.)


    (We will not! With some careful budgeting this can last us a good few months.)


    (Eh, if you can drag it out long enough that rumors about the human trash panda fade I¡¯ll be impressed.)


    She was very glad no one could actually connect those rumors to her. (Last thing I need is that kind of embarrassment¡­)


    ¡°Oh, there was also something I wanted to ask you about though.¡± Anavi admitted after a moment.


    She blinked. ¡°Uh, yeah?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m still learning the local culture and you said something about you being a red flag? What¡¯s that mean?¡± Anavi asked.


    ¡°Nothing important!¡± She blurted with a nervous laugh, already inching towards the exit. ¡°Just a¡­ sports thing! Oh, look at the time? I¡¯ve got to go, can¡¯t be late for dinner, bye!¡±